Federal Butterfly Overreach
Federal Butterfly Overreach
Cloudcroft will suffer. The Forest Service is enacting an-all-but-a seizure of public lands akin to eminent domain, taking public land use away from stakeholders.
Guest post by Hannah Dean, Amy Coor, and Adrienne West
As of August 10th, 2023, the Federal Register lists the Sacramento Checkerspot Butterfly as an endangered species. Maps included in the proposal are set to limit recreation access in over 1600 acres of meadows and forest roads directly surrounding Cloudcroft.
In restricting pedestrian movement such as hiking, hunting, and mountain biking, through a vast amount of the Lincoln National Forest (LNF) surrounding Cloudcroft village, the Forest Service is enacting an an-all-but-a seizure of public lands akin to eminent domain, taking public land use away from stakeholders.
Eco-tourism, outdoor sports, and access to forest lands are the primary economic draw to Cloudcroft, for both tourists and locals alike. If the noose-like shape of the proposed protected areas for the Checkerspot habitat were to be closed, it would cut the air off from every business, home-owner, hunter, outdoorsman, tourist, and taxpayer in the area.
The economic impact of losing recreational access cannot be overstated. The USDA Forest Plan Assessment Report for LNF on Socioeconomic Resources from May 2019 does not account for the massive tourism boom that happened during the 2020 pandemic. In September 2020, the U.S. Forest Service LNF Facebook Page shared that over 30,000 people visited the forest and nearby towns over Labor Day weekend. Permitted races though Cloudcroft Runners and the High Altitude Classic have also dramatically increased in attendance. These events donate all profits to collegiate scholarships for Cloudcroft students, and support and equipment for Cloudcroft School athletic programs. These are traceable metrics for growth that need to be accounted for.
The Federal Register plan to put in fences with no gate or pass-through will eliminate the responsible, non-motorized recreation for individuals. Completely fencing off public lands seems like an unreasonable solution for sustaining a species whose “viability is proven to be incredibly low” (Current Condition Assessment Report For the Sacramento Checkerspot Butterfly, July 2022.)
Since 1999, when endangered species status was first proposed, the Federal Government has not managed the fate of the Checkerspot in a timely and sensible manner. Even in heavily controlled settings or conditions, such as labs at UNM or the Albuquerque Biopark, there is failure to revitalize the species (this is assumed due to the promising news at the ABQ Biopark that there would be adult butterflies in the summer of 2023, and the Biopark newsworthy page only talks about the Lantanas blooming, and there is nothing about the Checkerspot in the Biopark Board minutes.) In fact, they seem to only have been documented as surviving in heavily mixed-use areas, such as Bailey Canyon or Piney Woods Campground.
Page one of the petition to list the Sacramento Checkerspot Butterfly as a threatened or endangered species lists out the causes for their decline, none of which include non-motorized recreation.
Overgrazing, ATVs, dispersed camping, invasive species, fire suppression, climate change, and “inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms” are listed as causes of the Checkerspot’s demise, rather than non-motorized recreation.
There should be common sense accommodations for hikers, bikers, and hunters.
Hunting in the Cloudcroft area is a huge economic draw, as well as an integral part of conservation and wildlife management, such as the cooperation between hunters and the Game and Fish department for testing for and monitoring Chronic Wasting Disease in cervids in the area (elk and deer.)
The Forest Service and Game and Fish can step up to address all three major forest management threats (pg. 19, Petition to List…) of overgrazing, off-highway-vehicle use, and fire suppression. These issues, even if the Checkerspot revitalization is already doomed, will better the health of our forest and the safety of our citizens in so many ways. The management of the feral horse population needs to be undertaken by a government entity, whether Forest Service, Game and Fish, or the Village. According to the Federal Register, the penstemon flower that the Checkerspot depends on for its egg and larval stages grows in abundance along trails, ditches, and other human-made pathways.
Hikers pose much less threat to this species of plant than the invasive horses that proliferate within the Cloudcroft Village area—horses, unlike deer, graze by biting plants very close to the roots, often pulling plants out of the ground.
It’s reasonable to propose that a first step in protecting these important plants for the Checkerspot would involve the Forest Service undertaking the management of the undocumented and unstudied numerous feral horse herds that live in the very areas where the habitat and restrictions are planned.
Fire suppression is a HUGE issue for our area, not just for the now-negative adult and larval tent numbers of Checkerspot butterflies, but for ALL critters and surrounding communities and stakeholders in the Sacramento Mountains. A mile-wide defensible band where the Forest Service could manage the fire safety of Cloudcroft village would provide future protections and meadow habitat for all species, endangered or thriving. As drought conditions worsen and climate factors like snowpack continue to change, managing our forest’s fire danger should be a priority that does not require complete pedestrian restrictions.
The Lincoln National Forest is home to one of the most successful environmental education campaigns with Smokey Bear—perhaps visual media, slogans, and signs along trails and meadows can help revive the Checkerspot without destroying the Cloudcroft Village economy and outdoor activity for nature lovers.
Even in the likely event that the Checkerspot will not be revived, Leave No Trace education and ecological campaigns such as community gardens, interpretive hikes and lectures through the Forest Service, and signage would be important steps in the right direction.
Folks can make comments until October 10th on the Federal Register site below: