You may download the complete report by clicking the links below: Final Mardon Skipper Status Report Oct/99 - PDF Format (313K) SEPA Checklist/Declaration of Non-Significance Nov/99 - PDF Format (209K) Draft Mardon Skipper Status Report Jun/99 - PDF Format (163K) The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife maintains lists of species that are endangered, threatened, or sensitive in the state. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission has adopted listing procedures developed in 1990 by a group of citizens, interest groups, and state and federal agencies (WAC 232-12-297). The procedures describe the process for listing species, criteria for listing and delisting, public review, and recovery and management. The first step in listing or delisting species is writing a status report that reviews a species’ status and addresses factors affecting its continued existence. Factors include, but are not limited to, historic, current, and expected population trends; natural history, including ecological relationships; historic and current habitat trends; population demographics and their relationship to long-term sustainability; and past and present management activities. Each status report undergoes a 90-day public review, during which the Department holds public meetings to receive comments and new information. Following the review period, the Department completes a final status report and listing recommendation. These undergo an additional 30-day review prior to being presented to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission. State Environmental Policy Act documents are issued concurrently with final status reports and undergo a 14-day public review. The Commission makes a decision to list or delist species solely on biological status of a species. This is a Final Status Report for the Mardon Skipper. Submit written comments on this report by November 30, 1999 to: Endangered Species Program Manager, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 600 Capitol Way N, Olympia WA 98501-1091 or e-mail your comments to wildthing@dfw.wa.gov. The Department will present the results of this status review to the Fish and Wildlife Commission for action at its December 10-11, 1999 meeting.

Mardon Skipper Status Report: Executive Summary The mardon skipper is a small, tawny-orange butterfly currently found at only four, small, geographically disjunct areas in Washington, Oregon, and California. In Washington, nine of 18 historic sites are known to be occupied. Based on several years of repeated survey effort, it has been concluded that populations at five historic sites have been extirpated. Four of these are in south Puget Sound and one is in the southern Cascades. The current status of four other sites is uncertain. Grasslands of the Puget prairies and Washington's southern Cascades are believed to support just a few hundred individuals. In the Puget lowlands, the mardon skipper is found on glacial outwash prairies where it inhabits open grasslands with abundant Idaho fescue interspersed with early blue violet. In the southern Cascades, the mardon skipper is found in open, fescue grasslands within Ponderosa pine savanna/woodland, at elevations ranging from 1900' to 5100'. South Cascade sites vary in size from small, ½ acre or less meadows, to large grassland complexes, and site conditions range from dry, open ridgetops, to areas associated with wetlands or riparian habitats. Within these southern Cascade and Puget prairie grassland environments, a variety of nectar source plants are important. The short, open stature of native, fescue bunchgrass stands allows mardon skippers to access nectar and oviposition plants. During the past 150 years, native grasslands have been developed, fragmented, and degraded. Fire historically played an important role in maintaining grassland plant communities. More than 95% of the original prairie grasslands are gone from western Washington. Mardon skippers were likely more widespread and abundant prior to large-scale loss of their open, fescue dominated, grassland habitat. The grassland and savanna landscapes upon which mardon skippers depend are threatened today by forest encroachment, invasion by native and non-native plants, development, recreational activities, grazing, agricultural practices, and application of herbicides. The butterflies are threatened by insecticides, control practices for invasive plants, military training, fire, and recreational activities. The extant Washington mardon skipper population consists of a few hundred individuals present at only nine geographically isolated sites, three in Puget Sound and six in the southern Cascades. Many of these sites are under assault from invasive non-native plants, and have human uses which are incompatible with butterfly management. At none of the mardon skipper sites does a mandate and dedicated funding occur for managing the site for mardon skipper habitat. Due to the mardon skipper's small population size, limited distribution, isolation, and the numerous factors threatening the species and its remaining habitat, the Department believes the species is vulnerable to extirpation and the Puget Sound population in particular, is seriously threatened with extinction. The Department, therefore, recommends the mardon skipper be classified as a State Endangered species. For more information on wildlife management issues, please contact WDFW Wildlife Management Program. Phone: 360-902-2515 E-mail: wildthing@dfw.wa.gov Files formatted in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) require the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print. You can download the free reader directly from Adobe. Windows versions are approximately 4MB in size.

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