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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 4, 2001
Contact:
Cheeca Lodge, an oceanside golf resort in Islamorada, Florida on upper Matecumbe Key, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the University of Florida in Gainesville are partnering to save Florida’s fragile, endangered butterfly, the Schaus swallowtail. Media is invited to come see them plant paradise and torchwood trees on the grounds of the 27-acre Cheeca Lodge resort to attract this beautiful black-brown butterfly with yellow markings. For more information please visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s webpage at http://southeast.fws.gov/news/index_news.html.WHEN: Monday, September 10, 2001 at 11 a.m.WHY: With a known population of only 350 Schaus swallowtails left in the Keys, private landowners, like Cheeca Lodge, can play a crucial role in preserving this rare butterfly. The Schaus Swallowtail Safe Harbor Agreement to be signed on September 10, is the first ever for a listed species in Florida. The trees planted at Cheeca Lodge will provide a butterfly corridor, a place for the species to feed, rest, and intermingle, before it disperses into other suitable habitat throughout the Keys. Cheeca Lodge’s cooperation in this project may serve as an example for other private businesses along the corridor, and more habitat may eventually be available to the Schaus.WHO: Jay Slack of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Vero Beach Field Office, Julie Olsen of Cheeca Lodge, and Dr. Thomas Emmel of the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera Research at the University of Florida will sign the Safe Harbor Agreement between the parties and be available for press interviews.WHERE: Cheeca Lodge, 82000 Overseas Highway, Islamorada, Florida
Schaus Swallowtail Butterfly Fact Sheet
NOTE: You can view our releases or subscribe to receive them -- via e-mail -- at the Service's Southeast Regional home page at http://southeast.fws.gov. Our national home page is at: http://news.fws.gov/newsreleases/. Atlanta, GA 30345 Phone: 404/679-7289 Fax: 404/679-7286 |
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