This was my first week on the job, and I already got to catch an endangered species, the Fender’s Blue butterfly (Icaricia icarioidies fender). This little blue butterfly is endemic to the Willamette Valley of western Oregon along with its host species, Kincaid’s Lupine (Lupinus oreganus), which is also endangered. If you travel along the highways that plow through the Willamette valley, you can see why these two species are not doing so well. The valley is saturated with monocultures, mostly sod and grapeseed farms, and the rivers lined by levies, channelizing flows and preventing natural flooding (same old story).
Interestingly, the site where I am working is within close proximity to the city of Eugene, OR and actually abuts the industrial area. But this is where the tiny little parcels of prairie exist that supports some of the few thriving Fender’s populations. Usually, we associate such special places and sensitive species with wilderness, forest land, or other more remote landscapes. It would be easy to overlook the value of these prairies, some of them hiding behind paper mills and factories, and focus on some of the more prevalent issues such as old growth and spotted-owls. And that is why my location is so unique. Every little site that I survey plays a very important role, each one being occupied by rare or endangered species, each one being protected from the encroachment of the city, each one reconnecting fragmented patches, and each one being managed to restore the ecosystem that once existed here.

I am excited to see how the BLM and its partners, who I am working with, cooperate on the restoration of the west Eugene wetlands. I am also excited to see what surprises lay ahead, especially after finding Fender’s Blue Butterflies at a site where they have never been recorded!