Lawsuit strives to protect both the moth and its ecosystem
On the expansive dunes of San Juan Island National Historical Park grows a perennial flower, the yellow sand verbena, which is the sole home of a rare moth. Without the flower, there is no moth. The sand verbena moth, Copablepharon fuscum, has been recorded on only a few beaches in British Columbia and Washington, the largest population stretching between American Camp and Cattle Point.
While the little-known moth may be easy to miss when exploring these few stretches of sand where they dwell, they were brought to the attention of the federal government recently when the Center for Biological Diversity, or CBD, sued the Trump administration, seeking Endangered Species Act, or ESA, protections.
According to a press release, nearly all the few remaining populations of sand verbena moths live but a few meters above sea level. Climate change models show that the rising sea will destroy almost all the lower habitat in the next century. The nonprofit environmental organization claims that while the ESA won’t prevent sea level rise, it could help safeguard existing habitat while developing a recovery strategy restoring upland habitat.
The lawsuit strives to protect both the moth and the broader ecosystem it so desperately relies on.
According to Drew Baloga, CBD legal fellow, sand verbena moths sat in purgatory, “the listing pipeline,” for a long time. In 2010, nonprofits petitioned to get the moths listed under the ESA. In 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or FWS, made its initial finding in favor of further consideration for listing. It took eight more years for FWS to present their ultimate finding, during President Donald Trump’s first term — and the listing was denied.
In 2019, FWS cited uncertainty in habitat impact — that the changes to the habitat by climate change may create new habitats for the moth. Critics of the decision claimed that FWS only considered near-future climate change analyses and ignored long-term projections.
“Obviously when something is pending for nine years and then it results in a denial, now we have to go back to the drawing board with a challenge like this to get that overturned, which will then hopefully lead to another listing decision down the road,” Baloga said.
Representatives from FWS did not respond to a request for comment.
Baloga believes that the change of philosophy by the Trump administration also played a hand, as many species received the same denials during this time that may not have otherwise, he said, such as the eastern hellbender salamander which was later reversed.
The first Trump administration protected 25 species under the ESA — compared to Obama’s 360 and Clinton’s 523 — the fewest of any administration since the act was passed in 1973.
Trump’s second administration requires a committee known as the “God Squad” to meet quarterly to determine if resource extraction projects should be exempted from ESA requirements. Trump has also reduced enforcement of pollution control statutes like the Clean Air Act and issued directives aimed at scaling back regulations on endangered species.
“It’s really just an across-the-board disregard for environmental protection,” said Baloga, “and you can see these past few months, they’re coming at it with even more aggression the second time around.”
While the initial decision for the sand verbena moth was made in 2019, Baloga said the CBD has approached each of these decisions methodically, digging deep into the science and building a case, which is why the decision took until Trump’s second term to challenge.
A unique moth
Sand verbena moths begin as green caterpillars with light stripes, turning brown as they age. After metamorphosis, adults grow three-quarter-inch brown wings with bright yellow and black lines.
The species was described as new in 1995 via specimens pulled from Deception Pass. British Columbia listed the moths as endangered under its Species At Risk Act in 2005, but the species received no such recognition in Washington and is currently a candidate to be considered endangered, threatened or sensitive. NatureServe, a nonprofit organization providing national conservation data, lists the moth as critically imperiled.
While there hasn’t been a documented decline, any change to these few, narrow strips of land the moths call home could mean extinction.
While sand verbenas would survive without their counterpart moths — bumblebees and other native bees pollinate during the day — the flowers would notice a departure, and it may cause some stress.
Since sand verbena moths specialize to the sand verbena, they have adapted to become perfect pollinators of the flower. They have long proboscises — tongues — that allow easier access in the long flower tubes. Their large bodies and hair allow easier pollen pick-up and transfer. There are many pollinators, but none are quite as proficient or efficient for sand verbenas as their namesake moth.
The two species have evolved together through many millennia, said Julie Combs, sand verbena moth lead with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, or DFW, shaping each other over time. The absence of the moth may not outright destroy the flower, but it could lower its reproductive success.
Sand verbena moths are so tied to sand verbenas that the plant hosts the moth in every single life stage, Combs said. As a larva, the moth is feeding on the leaves; as an adult, the plant serves as the moth’s primary home. Adult female moths lay eggs in the buds of the flower.
The hyperdependence between the plant and the moth species is somewhat rare among moths, Combs said. Moths are usually generalists, finding nectar in any number of plants. Sand verbena moths are one of a few unique specialists.
State versus federal protections
The DFW is currently conducting surveys to track occurrence in both historic and new locations, Combs said.
Right now, the majority of host plant habitat and sand verbena moth detections are on national or state park land, with each agency assessing and addressing threats to the moth.
While the moths are currently under review and listed as a candidate species for state protections, Combs said that ESA listing is not enough for the species to recover and have long-term sustainability — this happens alongside local protections by State Parks, National Park Service and the Department of Natural Resources, or DNR.
Near Cattle Point, the DNR controls native annual grasses that compete with the sand verbena, said David Wilderman, ecologist with the department. Ecologists mow the grasses with weed eaters prior to seed production to try to reduce them over time. In addition, the department also planted new sand verbena seedlings to expand habitat.
These efforts seem to be successful, he said; as of last year, moth populations in these patches appear to be robust.
Classifying the moths as endangered, threatened or sensitive on the state level invokes penalties for intentional harm to the species and brings them into the conversation of how and where to point resources. The listing also communicates priority to DFW partners, but it doesn’t grant any more funding to the species on its own.
Baloga feels these state protections are similarly inadequate, and the view of the CBD is to push to get the moth protected by every possible means. Federal listing can help fund state efforts on the ground, he said.
Wilderman said state and federal protections may make funding streams more accessible to his department to expand his local habitat work. Most land managers depend on grants for such work. The efforts on Cattle Point so far have been “pretty experimental and small scale,” and more work needs to be done on Cattle Point to truly improve and maintain conditions for the moths.
This year’s surveys may reveal new locations which would expand the DFW’s knowledge of its habitat needs and current distribution, leading to greater protection, Combs said.
A favorable decision from the District Court, to Baloga, would be to order FWS to make a new finding, which would take a new 3- to 5-year assessment process. He expects a decision on the lawsuit by the end of the year.
By Sam Fletcher
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