Karner Blue Butterfly and Concord (NH) Pine Barrens Project
Photo: Lindsay Webb/NHFG Project Goal: To reintroduce the Karner
blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) in Concord, NH and
to maintain the Concord Pine Barrens through habitat management.
Timeline: NH Fish and Game's Nongame Program began restoring the
Concord Pine Barrens in 2000 and began releasing captive reared
Karner blue butterflies in 2001. Periodic habitat management
will always be necessary to maintain the Pine Barrens as a
suitable habitat for Karner blue butterflies to survive. Captive
rearing of the butterflies will end when the federal recovery
goals have been met. Location: Approximately 300 acres of Pine
Barrens habitat in Concord, NH. Description: In 1999, the Karner
blue butterfly was thought to be extirpated from New Hampshire.
The last place it was observed was in a power line corridor in
Concord. Working closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, New Hampshire Fish and Game biologists began collecting
Karner blue butter