The expansion of the Lee Canyon Ski Area, located on Mount Charleston in Las Vegas, NV, poses a great threat to the Mount Charleston blue butterfly, an endangered species. The Center for Biological Diversity has the intent to sue the Trump administration's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service due to their failure of protecting this species. However, they need your assistance to make a greater impact.

This blue butterfly species is already endangered due to habitat loss, increasing the size of the ski area would not only cause more habitat loss but also increased summer recreation, the time in which the butterflies are most active. This expansion would add an extensive network of biking trails and a "mountain coaster" directly in the center of the species' habitat.

Even though the blue butterfly is protected under the Endangered Species Act, ensuring the Fish and Wildlife Service must make certain that federal actions do not jeopardize the species, nor its habitat in any way, they simply disregarded the majority of the butterfly's habitat as "not suitable". Doing this has allowed potentially allowed for massive habitat disturbances to occur, such as construction. 

The habitat in which the blue butterfly thrives, the Spring Mountains, are an extreme case of biodiversity. The Spring Mountains house a variety of animals as well as plants that live no where else on the planet. These species are critical to the blue butterfly's survival. 

Any form of construction, or disturbance to the blue butterfly's habitat could devastate the population of this already endangered species. This expansion has the potential to make this butterfly extinct. 

photo courtesy of Corey Kallstrom / USFWS