Critical Habitat Proposed for Endangered Mount Charleston Blue Butterfly

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) today announced plans to designate
approximately 5,561 acres on Mount Charleston in southern Nevada’s Spring Mountains as critical
habitat for the endangered Mount Charleston blue butterfly. The land comprising the proposed critical
habitat is 99 percent federally owned and mostly within designated wilderness. The butterfly was listed as
endangered in October 2013 under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The proposed critical habitat rule
will appear in the Federal Register on Tuesday, July 15, 2014, opening a 60-day public comment period
on the proposal.

“Critical habitat” is a term in the ESA that identifies geographic areas of particular importance to the
conservation of a threatened or endangered species. The ESA defines “conservation” as the actions
leading towards the eventual recovery of a species to the point where it is no longer threatened or
endangered.

The Mount Charleston blue butterfly (Plebejus shasta charlestonensis) is a distinct subspecies of the
wider-ranging Shasta blue butterfly. The butterfly occupies high elevations in the Spring Mountains
National Recreation Area, approximately 25 miles west of Las Vegas.

For the full article click here: http://www.fws.gov/nevada/highlights/news_releases/2014/nr-mcbb_pch-final7-14-14.pdf