SAVING THE SAND MOUNTAIN BLUE BUTTERFLY Sand Mountain blue
butterflies live in only one place on Earth — within and near
the dunes of “Singing” Sand Mountain in Nevada. But over the
past three decades, extensive off-road vehicle use on these
public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management has
destroyed more than 50 percent of the rare butterfly’s habitat
and main food source, leaving the species perched on the edge of
extinction. The Sand Mountain blue butterfly is closely linked
to Kearney buckwheat; larvae feed exclusively on the plant, and
adult butterflies rely on its nectar as a primary food source.
Unfortunately, the Bureau of Land Management has allowed off-
road vehicle use to destroy much of the Kearney buckwheat that
once thrived on the dunes at Sand Mountain. To ensure that the
Sand Mountain blue butterfly will have adequate habitat and
protection, the Center submitted a petition to list this rare
species as federally endangered in 2004. In 2006, after the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service failed