Karner blue decision won’t be soon, DEC says
MILTON, N.Y. » Disrupting endangered Karner blue butterfly habitat at Saratoga County Airport would require an extensive review and approval process, lasting at least a year, a state wildlife biologist says.
The county is considering plans to create new Karner blue habitat in Wilton, in exchange for building a new airport taxiway that would destroy some blue lupine — the plants butterflies depend on for survival.
An environmentalist says the airport’s butterfly population numbers more than 14,000, the largest in Saratoga County.
“It is critical to the species’ survival to keep the Karner blue butterfly at Saratoga County Airport,” said Mary Ellen Ryall, past executive director of Wisconsin-based Happy Tonics, Inc., a Monarch butterfly sanctuary. “It is rare to find barren pine habitat with a thriving Karner blue butterfly population like the one that exists at the airport.”
But wildlife biologist Kathleen O’Brien, of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said the population figures Ryall cited are from studies done in the early 1990s.
“These numbers have gone down,” she said. “There’s a lot of reasons populations can crash such as the weather.”
In recent years, officials have also worked to create new Karner blue habitat at Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park, which is more supportive to the insect’s long-term viability. The airport is wide open, exposed to frost along with wind and sun, which makes it dry out quickly, O’Brien said.
In contrast, dunes with scattered trees and shrubs in Wilton have more protective microclimates.
“Butterflies there can take shelter,” she said.
Karner blue butterflies are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. The county is working with the DEC and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on plans to disrupt airport habitat and construct new habitat in Wilton. These state and federal agencies will ultimately decide whether plans move forward.
A public presentation on a draft environmental assessment is tentatively planned for mid-May in Ballston Spa, followed by a 30-day public comment period.
“We are reserving our responses to any questions and comments until after the close of the public comment period,” county Deputy Public Works Commissioner Tom Speziale said Wednesday.
However, county officials say the presence of blue lupine creates a potential safety hazard. At present, except for around runway lights and signs, most airport property is only mowed once per year, after Oct. 15. As a result, wildlife such as deer and turkeys are attracted to tall grass and sometimes go on runways.
Removing butterfly habitat would also allow for small-scale construction such as an airport
restaurant or convenience store.
But Lyall said, “There is already a Hannaford Supermarket and Stewart’s Shop on Rowland Road. I can’t imagine private plane owners would desire to eat at a new restaurant at a county airport when there are high-end restaurants in Saratoga Springs. I think the county should be proud that the Karner Blue chose Saratoga County as its home, and I think we owe it to the endangered butterfly to protect the Karner blue in Saratoga County.”
O’Brien said there are 148 acres of Karner blue habitat at Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park, comprised of land owned by The Nature Conservancy, county and state. This is less than half the 320 acres needed to ensure the butterfly’s long-term future in Wilton.
“It’s still a work in progress,” she said.
Constructing new habitat on county-owned parcels adjacent to the Preserve & Park would create a more robust area butterflies would colonize naturally, O’Brien said.
However, no decisions have been made and likely won’t be until “at least a year from now,” she said. “Obviously there are many moving parts to this.”