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Recent Updates Volunteers of all kinds are searching fields and fens, mountains and meadows, even their own backyards, to document the status of Vermont butterflies. You can join too! Despite their lofty status among the insects, butterflies remain largely a mystery in Vermont. There is no atlas of their distribution, no scientific assessment of the threats they face, and no conservation concept for butterfly species on a statewide scale. With this in mind we initiated the Vermont Butterfly Survey to run from 2002-2007. Noted lepidopterist and author, Dr. Robert Michael Pyle, kicked off the project in 2002 with an evening lecture and helped volunteers with the survey for a few days. He offered high praise for our project. In his kind words:
“You can't conserve something if you don't know where it is, and you can't find out where it is without dedicated amateurs out there every day, all season, surveying the actual conditions on the ground. New England butterflies were considered quite well known in the days of Samuel Hubbard Scudder, but our knowledge has fallen way back in recent decades as habitats have changed and populations shifted. The Vermont Butterfly Survey now offers a wonderful chance to know, and conserve, the state's butterfly heritage. Deeply involved in the Northwest Lepidoptera Survey for decades, and seeing what it has accomplished for conservation, I am highly impressed and encouraged by the energetic and sophisticated campaign of the VBS, and I wish the participants bright days afield and all good luck and success." |
