Following an agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity to speed decisions for protection of 757 imperiled species across the country, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized Endangered Species Act protection today for Nevada’s Mount Charleston blue butterfly. The butterfly occurs in just a few locations at very small numbers and is threatened by fire suppression, fuel reduction activities and recreational development.

“This is great news for one of Nevada’;s rarest species. The beautiful Mount Charleston blue butterfly is in desperate need of help and we’ve got to move quickly,” said Rob Mrowka, a Center ecologist based in Nevada. “Even before prime areas of habitat were severely damaged by this summer’s Carpenter 1 wildfire, there were very few of these butterflies left in the world.”