Butterflies in Danger After Calif. Fires

Yahoo! News ^ | 3/7/04 | AP - San Diego

[NormsRevenge]

SAN DIEGO - The wildfires that charred vast areas of Southern California last fall may also have put the survival of two rare species of butterflies at risk, researchers say.

Some experts say it became apparent even while the fires were still smoldering that the flames that blackened more than 745,000 acres, destroyed more than 3,400 homes and killed nearly two dozen people also threatened the existence of the Hermes copper and Thorne's hairstreak butterflies.

"When I saw the magnitude of devastation, I realized in my lifetime I might see one, possibly two species go extinct," said biological consultant Michael Klein.

The Hermes, which catches sunlight brilliantly in its yellow underwings, has only a 20 to 25 percent chance of survival, according to an estimate by David Faulkner, a forensic entomologist who has studied both species. He gave Thorne's hairstreak, unique for its purple-brown underside with iridescent green sheen, less than a 5 percent chance of survival.

Some environmentalists blame state officials for not saving enough of the butterflies' natural habitat from development. With so much acreage containing plant life necessary for their survival having been developed, they say, there simply was not enough left to save from the fires.

"There's been totally ridiculous bureaucratic bumbling on the Fish and Wildlife Service's part, resulting in a very tragic situation today," said David Hogan of the Center for Biological Diversity in San Diego.

Federal officials disagree, saying such alarm is premature.

"Of course we're worried about these species, but until we do some surveys this spring, I'm not going to go into crisis mode," said Alison Anderson, a federal biologist in Carlsbad.

The Hermes feeds only on the spiny red berry bush, much of which was destroyed by the San Diego area fires. Otay Mountain is the only known home of Thorne's hairstreak, and almost all of it was burned.

[NormsRevenge]

Some Butterflies are no longer FRee , they are FRied.

Thanks to an environmental movement out of touch with nature and marketing its own agenda.

[NormsRevenge]

FRom USGS...

Hermes Copper

[NormsRevenge]

Thorne's Hairstreak

Top view

---

Bottom view

[Reelect President Dubya]

By not allowing controlled burns and lumbering, the Sierra Club is directly responsible for this.

When will they be prosecuted?

[Amerigomag]

I thought there was general agreement that environmental policies run amuck was the principal contributing factor in the conflagration?

[realpatriot71]

Forget about all the folks who lost homes - save the butterflies.

Some folks - maybe most folks - in Kali don't get it. The butterflies have been taking care of themselves just fine for millenia.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[Yaelle]

Uh-oh. I am in big trouble. My cat kills about 300 butterflies a season. I could end up worse than Martha Stewart if they find out.

[henderson field]

Doesn't the same danger exist when there are controlled burns?

[NormsRevenge]

Doesn't the same danger exist when there are controlled burns?

lol ... ssshhhh .. :-]

[Finalapproach29er]

This country has gone off its rocker.

[Steel and Fire and Stone]

You are correct. In the twisted minds of the "Sierra Club" Democrat environmental activists, it's the people who died and/or lost their homes who are to blame, not the environmental policies that forbid (under criminal penalties) any action that might have reduced the fire danger. To wit:

Some environmentalists blame state officials for not saving enough of the butterflies' natural habitat from development. With so much acreage containing plant life necessary for their survival having been developed, they say, there simply was not enough left to save from the fires.

"There's been totally ridiculous bureaucratic bumbling on the Fish and Wildlife Service's part, resulting in a very tragic situation today," said David Hogan of the Center for Biological Diversity in San Diego.

Environmentalism is like a state sponsored religion, where the orthodoxy and blind faith of its true believers competes with the individual freedoms of everyone else.

SFS

[freekitty]

California has these fires every year.

[NormsRevenge]

It's all about allowing large amounts of fuel to build up..

Just think of all the properties that are put at risk unnecessarily..

I understand that these things do happen, but the extent and severity can be mitigated with efficient stewardship of the butterfly's and human's habitat. :-)

[cabbieguy]

I must have about 50 butterfly carcass plastered on my SUV grill. Gotta get them off before some reports me to the Sierra Club.

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!