Topline:
Before 1990, the Quino checkerspot butterfly could be found from Los Angeles to the Mexico border. Now, they're only found in Riverside and San Diego counties. But the butterfly could soon be classified as endangered in California after the Fish and Game Commission voted Wednesday to consider whether it deserves additional protections.
Wiped out: The butterflies have fallen victim to habitat fragmentation and loss due to development, as well as the spread of invasive plants, which replace their host vegetation, according to the petition submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity.
Protections in place: The butterfly was listed as federally endangered in 1997, but Sofia Prado-Irwin, staff scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, worries that politicized and underfunded federal agencies could make those protections harder to enforce. "We believe that the state protections will provide a backstop in addition to just being a more comprehensive protection against habitat loss and direct harm," she said.
What's next: It's possible that some time in the next year (barring substantial delays), the commission will issue a ruling.