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WISCONSIN
State-Wide
The Karner blue butterfly
once lived in twelve Eastern and Midwestern states. But
over the years, development and agriculture have
devastated the butterfly’s best habitat, including oak
savanna and pine barrens. As a result the Karner blue
butterfly population dropped by 99 percent! Today, 38
different partners participate in a sweeping conservation
plan that takes into account the butterfly’s life
history. As part of the partnership to recover the Karner
blue the Wisconsin Gas Company agreed to mow grass along
its power lines later in the summer then usual to give
time for the caterpillars to mature. The state highway
department and other partner organizations also mow late
and leave the grass long at the end of the growing season
to help butterfly eggs survive the winter. The effort has
also been beneficial to creating good habitat for the
Karner blue but also for
Wisconsin
’s endangered Kirtland’s warbler, the eastern
massasauga rattlesnake, the wood turtle and the slender
glass lizard. Source: Smithsonian Magazine September
2005.
Related Materials for
Wisconsin
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