Action timeline

June 30, 1999 – The Center filed suit against the U.S. fish and Wildlife Service for failure to designate critical habitat for the Bay checkerspot butterfly, which had first been proposed in the 1980s but was subsequently withdrawn.

April 30, 2001 – In keeping with a legal settlement obtained by the Center, the Service designated 23,903 acres in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties as critical habitat for the butterfly.

August 26, 2008 – The Service gave the checkerspot a new critical habitat designation of just 18,293 acres, reducing the protected area by 23 percent.

Photo © Richard A . Arnold