Efforts to Aid Imperiled Butterfly Get a Boost
Efforts to restore the endangered El Segundo blue butterfly at the dunes adjoining Los Angeles International Airport were bolstered this week by the Board of Airport Commissioners.
As part of the continuing restoration of the dunes, the board will hire a consultant to provide annual surveys of the butterfly population and the coastal buckwheat plant, its sole food source, which grows on the 200 acres of dunes.
The El Segundo blue butterfly became the first insect listed as a federal endangered species in June 1976. From less than 500 butterflies then, the population is now estimated in the tens of thousands, said Scott Read, an airport spokesman.
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