Wisconsin's Karner Blue Butterfly Recovery Work Group Meeting at the Schmeeckel Preserve in Stevens Point. - Courtesy photo by Dave Lentz, Wisconsin DNR

Cathy Carnes, Green Bay Ecological Services Office, participated in the first meeting of the Wisconsin Karner Blue Butterfly Recovery Work Group (RWG), on July 23, in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. 

The RWG is composed of WDNR land managers and regional ecologists, representatives from the Service, USGS, The Nature Conservancy, Fort McCoy, UW-Madison, UW-Eau Claire, and the Milwaukee Public Museum as well as private landowners. 

The RWG outlined a recovery strategy for the butterfly in Wisconsin.  That strategy includes Local Sub-teams developing individual recovery implementation plans for the Karner blue butterfly for nine recovery sites that includes state property.  

Those Sub-teams will also identify task that need to be done to achieve recovery at each site; the task will be taken to the 40 Wisconsin Statewide Karner Blue Butterfly HCP (HCP) partners who are interested in pro-actively assisting with recovery of the butterfly. 

Recovering the butterfly in Wisconsin is key to recovering the species range-wide, as almost one-half (14) of the range-wide recovery areas (29) identified in the Karner Blue Butterfly Recovery Plan occur in Wisconsin.