skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

NM Butterfly Designated for Study as Endangered Species

play audio
Play

Thursday, January 14, 2016   

SANTA FE, N.M. – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has selected three rare insects, including one from New Mexico, to be evaluated for possible protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The agency named the Great Basin silverspot butterfly, which lives in desert marshes in the Southwest, as one of the species to get a review that could result in protection as a threatened or endangered species.

Bethany Cotton, wildlife program director for WildEarth Guardians, says a loss of habitat is pushing the silverspot to the brink.

"It's sort of like how monarchs are dependent on milkweed, this butterfly is dependent on the bog violet, because that's the only food that the larvae will eat,” she states. “So, if that plant is not around, then the butterfly's in really serious trouble."

The silverspot ranges throughout the Four Corners region, primarily in New Mexico and eastern Arizona.

The Fish and Wildlife Service also named the narrow-foot diving beetle from Wyoming and the Scott riffle beetle in western Kansas.

All are up for a 12-month review. The WildEarth Guardians filed the original petition to review their status.

Cotton says people sometimes discount the effects that losing an insect could have on the ecosystem, but she says its importance can't be minimized.

"Often, these small species, people think, 'Oh, it's not so significant,'” she states. “But they really are the canaries in the coal mine. They are warning signs of serious problems."

The designation opens up a 90-day public comment period to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about its plans to study each insect.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021