February 11, 2026 Meeting

Fender’s Blue Butterfly: Recovery Efforts in and near the
West Eugene Wetlands

with Sophie Linden and Scott Harris

 7:15-9:00 p.m., presentation 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Main Hall, Hilyard Community Center, 2580 Hilyard St, Eugene (map)

Fender’s Blue by Chris Calhoun

Join the Lane County Butterfly Club for this presentation on a local butterfly and its only host plant which are both on the Endangered Species List. Sophie Linden from the Nature Conservancy and Scott Harris from the Institute of Applied Ecology will present an overview of recovery efforts at the Willow Creek Preserve and other sites in the West Eugene Wetlands for the Fender’s Blue Butterfly and its only host plant, Kincaid’s Lupine. Fender’s Blue Butterfly surveys conducted over the past decade indicate a variable but positive population trend, which resulted in them being moved from the Endangered list to the Threatened list in 2023.  

In this presentation, we will hear a brief history of Fender’s Blue butterfly and the role of the Endangered Species Act in its recovery.  The speakers will discuss the trends in Fender’s Blue Butterfly populations throughout its range over the past 10 years and an overview of habitat restoration practices and challenges.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC), an international non-profit conservation organization, has been instrumental in conservation and management projects in the southern Willamette Valley for nearly four decades. TNC is dedicated to implementing science-based management to protect and enhance native plant and animal populations. Willow Creek Preserve has one of the largest Fender’s Blue Butterfly meta-populations in the Eugene Recovery Zone.  Sophie Linden is the Willamette Basin Steward for The Nature Conservancy and works on TNC lands in the south Willamette Valley. As steward, Sophie brings a background in botany and plant ecology and has worked in the Willamette Valley for the better part of 10 years.

The Institute for Applied Ecology (IAE) is a Corvallis-based nonprofit with a mission of conserving native species and habitats through restoration, research and education.  Scott Harris has been the Director of Conservation Research at IAE since 2021. Prior to that he earned a PhD from Oregon State studying how tree farming practices can be modified to benefit wildlife. The Conservation Research Program at IAE conducts research, surveys, and monitoring of rare species and their habitats to minimize extinction risk and recover species. IAE has been working with Fender’s Blue butterfly since 1999 and has coordinated rangewide population surveys since 2016.