Fender's Blue Butterfly and Kincaid's Lupine

The endangered Fender’s blue (Icaricia icarioides fenderi) was considered extinct until its rediscovery in 1989 in Oregon. The Fender’s blue depends on the threatened Kincaid’s lupine (Lupinus sulphureus ssp. kincaidii) as a larval food plant.

Degradation, fragmentation, and loss of prairie habitat due to fire suppression and subsequent woodland succession, agriculture and forest practices, development, grazing, and road construction and maintenance led to listing the butterfly and the lupine under the Endangered Species Act.

Both species need management, restoration, and protection. Controlled burning, careful mowing, and hand clearing are now used to manage prairie ecosystems. Partners working to recover these species in cooperation with the Fish and Wildlife Service include the Bureau of Land Management, Army Corps of Engineers, Oregon Natural Heritage Program, Oregon Department of Agriculture, Oregon Department of Transportation, The Nature Conservancy, and private landowners.