LA CONNER, Wash. — State and federal wildlife agencies are asking for help from landowners to recover an extremely rare western Washington butterfly.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife introduced a voluntary program for San Juan and Lopez Island landowners who are interested in helping them restore Island Marble Butterflies, a species only found on San Juan Island.
Experts thought the butterfly had been extinct since 1908, but the state DFW says it was re-discovered by biologists in San Juan Island National Historical Park in 1998, and last seen on Lopez Island in 2006.
The Washington State and US, Fish and Wildlife Service, are holding public meetings for landowners in September.