Photo credit: Mike Marsh

Pale blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium sarmentosum) | ESA status: none

Pale blue-eyed grass

The pale blue-eyed grass is actually not a grass, but an iris. Found only in Oregon and Washington, this rare plant is sensitive to many threats.

Pale blue-eyed grass facts

The pale blue-eyed grass’s blue-green stems and thin, grass-like leaves are decorated with minute pale blue flowers in the spring, adding a subtle tint to the wet open meadows where they grow in south-central Washington and northern Oregon. There are only between 5,000 and 7,000 individual plants left, occurring in scattered populations across less than 1,000 acres. Many of those populations are too small to be self-sustaining.

What are the threats to pale blue-eyed grass?

The pale blue-eyed grass is not only delicate in appearance, but in constitution as well. It is very sensitive to damage before or during its flowering period and can be badly damaged if grazed or trampled by cattle. Pale blue-eyed grass is also threatened by off-road vehicle use, agriculture, and hybridization with another, more common iris. Invasive species and woody shrubs given a boost by climate change encroach on their meadow habitat.

What WildEarth Guardians is doing to preserve pale blue-eyed grass

We petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect this rare plant under the Endangered Species Act in 2007 and continue to press the Service to finalize the listing.

Historical Significant Actions

WildEarth Guardians files lawsuit to compel overdue listing determination for pale blue-eyed grass February 2010

WildEarth Guardians and Center for Native Ecosystems comment on positive preliminary finding October 2009

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issues positive preliminary finding on petition to list pale blue-eyed grass August 2009

WildEarth Guardians files lawsuit to compel overdue preliminary finding for pale blue-eyed grass March 2008

WildEarth Guardians files a petition for 206 Mountain-Prairie species, including pale blue-eyed grass July 2007

Wildlife Press: Pale blue-eyed grass

Press Releases

Valentine’s Day is Not Just About Roses

Feb 8, 2010

Conservation Group Advocates for Bouquet of Endangered Wildflowers
Contact: Nicole Rosmarino (505) 699-7404

All Guardians Press Releases

Feds to Consider Over 100 Species For Federal Protection

Dec 16, 2009

WildEarth Guardians Seeks Federal Protection for 681 Western Species

Mar 24, 2008

Group Seeks Federal Protection for 206 Western Endangered Species

Jul 24, 2007

Megan Sweeney

Wild Places Intern

Megan is a rising 3L at the University of Oregon School of Law. Originally from Jupiter, Florida, she grew up scuba diving, snorkeling, and hiking in a state with unique ecosystems such as everglades and coral reefs, shaping her into the environmentally conscious individual she is today. Working at a sea turtle hospital and watching toxic algae blooms negatively affect both coral reefs and endangered species inspired her to drive positive change and pursue a career in environmental law.

She attended the University of Florida and graduated in 2018 with a BS in Marine Science with minors in Mathematics and Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. After graduation, she worked as an intern at JLA Geosciences, a hydrogeological contracting firm where she learned the importance of sustainable water and land management. Megan is very involved with the environmental law community through her leadership roles in the Land Air Water Environmental Law Society. Megan helped organize both the 2020 and 2021 Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) through her positions as a 1L Representative and a Conference Co-Director. During her 3L year she will serve as a Land Air Water Co-Director. She has also been involved with the University Oregon’s Environmental and Natural Resources Center as a Fellow on the Oceans, Coasts, and Watersheds Project.

Her research is focused on Biocriteria and reforming the CWA to better protect coral reefs and better address agricultural runoff. During her 2L year she also competed in the Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition. During the summer of 2020 she worked for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. In the fall of 2020, she had a judicial externship at the U.S. District Court District of Oregon working for the Honorable Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai. Megan is very excited to gain further litigation skills by working in the Wildlife Program at the Portland Office of WildEarth Guardians.

Tessa Archibald

WIldlife Program Intern

Tessa Archibald is a passionate animal lover with a desire to preserve our natural world and increase respect for all species. She obtained a BS in Biopsychology from Tufts University and is currently working towards a Masters in Animals and Public Policy at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. She hopes that an understanding of complex human animal interactions and policy will promote more empathetic management of wildlife across all lands!

Joe Bushyhead

Endangered Species Policy Advocate

Joe Bushyhead joined Guardians in May 2021 as our Endangered Species Policy Advocate. Based in Denver, he works to protect imperiled Western species as well as the integrity of the Endangered Species Act itself.

Prior to Guardians, Joe spent seven years as a staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and clerked for the Honorable Tena Campbell at the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. He holds a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis and a J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law. Before law school, he worked for the Nez Perce Tribe Department of Fisheries Resource Management on, among other projects, a study of Chinook salmon in Idaho’s South Fork of the Salmon River watershed.

Hailey Zimber

Research Intern

My name is Hailey Zimber and I am a rising senior majoring in Politics at Whitman College. I am thrilled to be joining WildEarth Guardians as a research and community organizing intern for the Greater Gila Campaign. As a born and raised New Mexican, the Greater Gila is one of the silos of wilderness that have shaped who I know myself to be. Protecting the Gila means protecting myself, my state, and my community, and for this reason, this position is especially meaningful to me.

Dustin Martin

Member, Board of Directors

Dustin grew up hiking, camping, riding, skiing and running the vast outdoor sanctuaries surrounding Gallup, NM. Distance running led him to New York City, where he earned an undergraduate degree in anthropology from Columbia University. In 2011, Dustin returned to the southwest to serve as program director for Wings of America- a not for profit that empowers Tribal youth and their families by introducing them to the cultural, spiritual and competitive legacy of Native runners. Under his leadership, the organization has continued to provide elite-level opportunities for talented Native runners while making a concerted effort to create new programs for fledgling harriers of all abilities. Moving forward, Dustin hopes to continue promoting the positive achievements of Native runners while helping foster and test new models for acquainting Native youth with their ancestral homelands.

Tricia Snyder

Rio Grande Campaigner

Tricia, as a child of military parents, spent much of her childhood moving frequently in the U.S. and abroad, but calls El Paso, TX home. Growing up on the banks of the (often dry) Rio Grande and the water scarcity of the Southwest sparked a life-long interest in finding solutions for water conflicts in the arid and semi-arid American West. Tricia received a B.S. in Geography with a focus on human-environment connection from New Mexico State University. Her research while there centered on water management across borders. She spent 5 years working with the Southwest Environmental Center working to protect and restore the wildlife and wild places of the Southwest borderlands, particularly focused on the recovery of the Mexican gray wolf. In 2015, Tricia moved to Washington state to pursue a graduate degree, receiving an M.S. in Cultural and Environmental Resource Management from Central Washington University. Her thesis, which conducted an adaptive capacity assessment of the Upper Klamath Basin, utilized both quantitative and qualitative research methods. She worked for nearly four years on salmon recovery as the Lead Entity Coordinator for the Yakima Basin in central Washington, bringing together a diverse group of interests and perspectives. Tricia joined WildEarth Guardians as the Rio Grande Campaigner in 2021.

Pale blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium sarmentosum) | ESA status: none

Pale blue-eyed grass

Pale blue-eyed grass facts

What are the threats to pale blue-eyed grass?

What WildEarth Guardians is doing to preserve pale blue-eyed grass

Historical Significant Actions

Wildlife Press: Pale blue-eyed grass

Valentine’s Day is Not Just About Roses

WildEarth Guardians protects and restores the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West.

Megan Sweeney

Wild Places Intern

Contact

Tessa Archibald

WIldlife Program Intern

Contact

Joe Bushyhead

Endangered Species Policy Advocate

Contact

Hailey Zimber

Research Intern

Dustin Martin

Member, Board of Directors

Francine D. Spang-Willis

Member, Board of Directors

Contact

Tricia Snyder

Rio Grande Campaigner