SAN FRANCISCO — The Center for Food Safety (CFS) has filed notice of its intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), alleging the agency has violated federal law by failing to act on a long-pending decision to protect the Iowa skipper butterfly under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The environmental advocacy organization says the FWS has missed a statutory deadline to determine whether the imperiled butterfly warrants full protection, leaving the species vulnerable to extinction as its native prairie habitat continues to disappear.
“Pollinators like the Iowa skipper butterfly are vital to public and environmental health. Trading their extinction to pad pesticide companies’ profits is incredibly irresponsible, and unlawful. The Iowa skipper is yet another canary in the coal mine—part of an extinction crisis driven by industrial agriculture’s monoculture crop systems and massive increases in pesticide spraying. We urge Fish and Wildlife Service to act to protect this iconic butterfly without further delay,” said Suzannah Smith, counsel for petitioner Center for Food Safety.
Legal Challenge Targets Missed Deadline
The lawsuit, announced Thursday, stems from a petition CFS filed in March 2023 requesting that the Iowa skipper be formally listed as an endangered species. That petition, supported by more than 250 scientific studies, detailed how agricultural intensification, pesticide exposure, and habitat loss have pushed the once-common butterfly to the brink.
In October 2024, the FWS acknowledged that listing “may be warranted,” marking the first step in the ESA’s multi-stage review process. However, according to CFS, the agency failed to meet the legally required one-year deadline to complete its evaluation and issue a final determination.
Under the ESA, federal agencies are required to make timely decisions on petitions to list species as threatened or endangered, a process that can trigger habitat protections and conservation measures. Environmental advocates say chronic delays have become a recurring problem, allowing species to decline further while bureaucratic backlogs mount.
The Iowa Skipper: An Indicator of Prairie Health
The Iowa skipper, a small butterfly with distinctive amber-coloured wings, is found in remnant patches of tallgrass prairie across the U.S. Midwest. The species has become increasingly rare as agriculture has transformed nearly all of its native habitat.
According to CFS, as much as 99 per cent of the United States’ 148 million acres of tallgrass prairie has been destroyed, replaced by large-scale monoculture crops such as corn and soybeans. The group argues that widespread pesticide spraying associated with these systems directly harms the butterfly and degrades the grasslands it depends on.
Prairie-specialist butterflies like the Iowa skipper rely on native grasses for breeding and feeding. Their disappearance signals wider ecosystem stress, scientists say. The Iowa skipper’s decline, in particular, is seen as a barometer of the health of the remaining prairie ecosystem.
CFS’s petition also cites other pressures, including climate change, invasive species, and the fragmentation of the butterfly’s small, isolated colonies, which make recovery more difficult.
Broader Campaign on Pollinator Protection
The legal action is part of CFS’s broader Extinction Crisis Program, which seeks to safeguard pollinators and other species from the impacts of industrial agriculture. The organization has previously filed lawsuits to protect monarch butterflies and other pollinators threatened by toxic pesticides and habitat destruction.
Advocates argue that pollinators are essential not only for wild ecosystems but also for food production. Declines in butterfly and bee populations have raised alarm among farmers, scientists, and policymakers concerned about crop pollination and biodiversity loss.
The Iowa skipper case, CFS says, underscores the broader challenge of ensuring the ESA is enforced as intended. Environmental groups have long contended that the FWS has been slow to act on petitions due to political pressure and resource constraints.
By filing notice of intent to sue, CFS has triggered a 60-day window before it can formally launch litigation in federal court. The group says it hopes the threat of legal action will spur the agency to act before irreversible harm is done.
“Without immediate protection, this prairie icon could vanish forever,” the organization warned in its announcement.
