Laws full of potential
Endangered Species Act
Lacey Act
California Environmental Quality Control Act
California Garden CLUB
The Mission Blue Project
Golden Gate National Parks
When working to protect endangered species, it is always important to have laws on your side. The Mission Blue Butterfly has that. The Endangered Species Act was implemented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service in 1973. It has the purpose of providing a program for the conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animals as well as their habitats. It requires federal agencies to ensure that what they are doing to help the species, weather it be authorizing, funds, carrying out, etc, does not jeopardize the existence of that species or their habitat.
The Mission Blue butterfly was added to the act in 1976, once it was added it made sure that the government knew what was being done to protect this species and what more needed to be done to protect it. This was very important in the protection of the Mission Blue butterfly, as it opened the door to people understanding that the species really did need their help (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Endangered Species Program, 2017). Since this act there has been many recovery plans to help these species. A big one gearing around the act, to provide a program for the endangered species, is the Twin Peaks final recovery plan. This plan has the goal of relocating the female Mission Blue butterflies from the San Bruno Mountain to Twin Peaks. As well as habitat restoration and management activities (Wayne, 2009).
The last act is the California Environmental Quality Control Act (CEQA). The California State Assembly created the Assembly Select Committee on Environmental Quality, and later created the CEQA in 1970. This act determines if a species is threatened or endangered, than “among those species requiring environmental impact assessments are made for actions that may detrimentally affect them” (Arnold, 1983). This act also made environmental protection a mandatory part of every California state and local (public) agency’s decision making process. This act made sure that the Mission Blue butterfly was labeled endangered, and once it was labeled endangered that assessments were made not just for them, but also for their environment in order to protect them. There is now more protected areas like, Fort Baker and Twin Peaks where these butterflies are less likely to be impacted by humans and development. Arnold, 1983).
Another important law that has had a huge impact on the protection of the Mission Blue Butterfly is the Lacey Act. This law was introduced into Congress by Representative John F. Lacey, an Iowa Republican, and then was signed by President William McKinley on May 25, 1900. The act “creates civil and criminal penalties for a wide array of natural resource violation, such as: import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase any wild animal whether they are alive or dead” (Arnold, 1983). Under this law the Mission Blue butterflies can be protected, by having the law provide penalties to whoever tries to negatively affect the small population of this species. This law is very important for the Mission Blue’s because it does not allow people to catch, buy, or import and export them(Arnold, 1983).
The Goal of the Golden Gate National Park Conservancy is “to preserve the Golden Gate National Parks, enhance the experience of park visitors, and build a community dedicated to conserving the parks for the future” (Golden Gate National National Parks Conservancy).It has spread awareness about the Mission Blue butterfly. Has partnered up with multiple organizations. Has created breeding programs to help the Mission Blue butterfly. Got volunteers to help pull out non native plant.
The goal of The Mission Blue Project is to bring education towards the Mission Butterfly and connect those to nature. (The Mission Blue project ).This organization has rounded up professional volunteers Such as biologist that have done research on the decrease of the Mission Blues that has given the public more information on why these butterflies are rare. Has spread education about the Mission Blue butterflies.Though the organization does go it bit off it has made it its mission to help the endangered Mission Blue butterflies
This nonprofit is very dedicated to helping protect the Mission Blue butterflies, as you can see on there website: “In 2016, California Garden Club members approved extending the financial support for an additional five years in partnership with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. Funds raised will continue support the propagation of two species of lupine used as larval plants to assist increasing the population of the federally endangered Mission Blue butterfly” (Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy). (Looper, 2017)
Monitoring and habitat restoration are two important conservation efforts this nonprofit is doing. The California Garden Clubs Inc. monitors the butterflies to detect trends in their abundance, distribution, and the timing of their flight season. Monitoring all these trends helps them understand what is affecting the trends and to determine where and when they should intervene. (Looper, 2017)
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Habitat restoration is the next effort that takes place after monitoring. There is two phases in habitat restoration. Phase one is growing and planting the lupines, which preserves the habitat as well as fostering interest in gardening, plant nurseries, promoting environmental awareness, and community engagement. Phase two is propagation and planting twelve California native nectar plants that adult mission blue butterflies use as nectar sources and ensure suitable habitat exists in between patches of host laval Lupines. (Looper, 2017)
Golden Gate National Park a organization dedicated to saving its local Mission Blue Butterfly (image from National Park Service, 2012)
Locals on a Mission to Save the Mission Blue Butterfly!
Click the image to learn more about the Mission Blue butterfly project! (image from Kobern, 2016)
Click image to see what the Golden Gate National Parks are doing to help save the Mission Blue butterflies! (Niewiroski, 2007)
California Gardens Club, a non-profit, grows Lupin to help protect the Mission Blue butterflies (click image to learn more) (image from Jakednb, 2013)
Many acts protect the Mission Blue butterflies (image from Mission blue butterfly, 2007)
