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Press Releases
Petition Requesting the Emergency Protections for the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterflly
Ongoing insecticide spraying in the Village of Cloudcroft, New Mexico, and proposed spraying on adjacent Lincoln National Forest land prompted the request for emergency listing for protections under the Endangered Species Act. The butterfly occurs on less than 2,000 acres, centered around Cloudcroft. The insecticides being sprayed target budworms and looper caterpillars, but they can also kill checkerspots. The butterfly was on track for federal protection in September 2001, when the Fish and Wildlife Service issued a proposed rule to list the checkerspot as endangered and proposed to designate all of its habitat as critical habitat. The Service withdrew the listing proposal in December 2004, stating that threats to the butterfly had been reduced, despite the very limited range of the butterfly, which makes it susceptible to extinction, and the presence of broad or long-term threats such as fire suppression, non-native weeds, and climate change.