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Mount charleston blue butterfly sketch2/21/2024 The critical habitat is in three separate blocks at the top of Kyle and Lee canyons and along the road connecting the two, state Route 158, near Fletcher Peak. The butterfly’s decline in recent years is blamed in part on a Forest Service fuel-reduction project that saw small trees and brush cut down, chipped and spread on the ground, effectively burying the Mount Charleston blue’s host plants and larvae. The designation requires the Forest Service to consult with the Fish & Wildlife Service to ensure any management activity in those areas does not harm the butterfly or the host and nectar plants on which it depends. The decision, which takes effect on July 30, is detailed in a Federal Register notice set for publication Tuesday. Excluded along with a portion of the ski resort were several day-use areas and campgrounds with a high concentration of infrastructure, heavy recreational or management activity and little functional habitat. The Fish & Wildlife Service announced Monday it would set aside 5,241 acres for the butterfly no bigger than a quarter instead of the 5,561 acres proposed last year. “They may not be able to do everything they want on every inch, but there’s plenty of room for expansion,” Senn said. If done right, clearing forest for more ski runs could actually benefit the butterfly by producing more habitat as it has elsewhere in the ski area. Mike Senn, field supervisor for the Fish & Wildlife Service in Southern Nevada, said much of that can still be done with the proper planning and consultation. The resort, which operates on public land under a long-term Forest Service lease, also wants to increase traffic during the summer with a downhill mountain biking park on trails it hopes to finish by 2016. Forest Service that would double the size of the operation and add six ski lifts and more snow-making equipment. The ski resort has submitted a 12-year plan to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.ĭuring a public meeting last year, Jim Seely, marketing director for the ski area 50 miles northwest of the Strip, said being designated as critical habitat could derail plans to add new ski runs and summer attractions. The owners of the popular winter sports area at the top of Lee Canyon hoped to be excluded from the critical habitat area, but only a portion of the resort - mostly around its buildings and ski lifts - ended up being removed from the final plan unveiled Monday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)įederal regulators have designated more than 5,200 acres high in the Spring Mountains as critical habitat for the endangered Mount Charleston blue butterfly, including one of the easiest places to see the incredibly rare insect: on the slopes at the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort. Mount Charleston blue butterfly, Plebejus shasta (Courtesy/Corey Kallstrom, U.S.
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