[Announce] Red Spotted Purple/White Admiral to Become State Butterfly

[Lynne Jackson]

Dear All,

Thank you, Andy, for emailing the results of the contest for New York  
State butterfly.

John Wolcott and I drove down yesterday to the Town of Cortlandt Town  
Hall to watch the vote count.  We were disappointed at the results,  
but, upbeat because Karina has really raised awareness of the Karner  
Blue and endangered species in New York.

I feel that Karina's campaign for the Karner Blue has made tens of  
thousands of school children aware of endangered species and this is  
a very good thing.

We should all be very thankful we have such a tremendous spokeswoman  
for our favorite butterfly!  A big thank you to Karina!

For more on the campaign:
http://www.karnerblueforstatebutterfly.org/

Election results:
http://www.karnerblueforstatebutterfly.org/ 
StateButterflyElectionResults.html

Lynne Jackson

On Jan 8, 2008, at 2:04 PM, andy at nycowboy.org wrote:

> [ Sidebar: I don't have a bill number for this as the bill
> has yet to be introduced or at least put on LRS or ACOM
> system. I'm guessing it's still at bill drafting or sitting
> on some legislative staffer's desk and will be put in during
> the next few days. ]
>
> http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080108/ 
> NEWS01/801080354/1018/NEWS02
>
> Students nominate official state butterfly winner
> (Original publication: January 8, 2008)
>
> CORTLANDT - Like any campaign professional whose candidate
> didn't come out on top, Karina Franke found the positive in
> the results.
>
> Even if the race determined the potential, official state
> butterfly. Even if she is 10 years old.
>
> "This, of course, was a great opportunity for the Karner
> blue (butterfly), for so many more people to know about it,"
> she said yesterday after the statewide vote was tallied.
>
> Karina's horse, rather, butterfly, in the race, fluttered a
> close second to the red-spotted purple or white admiral
> butterfly. The white and purple forms of this butterfly are
> in the same species.
>
> The admiral received 12,461 votes to the Karner blue's
> 11,489 votes. Of the three other butterfly species
> considered for the honor, none garnered more than about
> 4,000 votes.
>
> "If you can believe it, we had nearly 35,000 votes (from
> students) around the state," said Assemblywoman Sandy Galef,
> D-Ossining.
>
> Galef and state Sen. Vincent Leibell, R-Patterson, yesterday
> announced the winner of the vote among third-, fourth- and
> fifth-graders. The two now will introduce legislation in
> Albany to designate the red-spotted purple or white admiral
> as the official state butterfly.
>
> Karina, a fourth-grade student at Furnace Woods Elementary
> School in Cortlandt, jump-started the effort in 2006 by
> writing to Galef and proposing that the federally endangered
> Karner blue butterfly be designated the state's official
> butterfly. Galef then suggested that students across the
> state select from several nominees, and Karina spent about a
> year writing and calling legislators and schools. Votes
> rolled in from Long Island to Rochester and were tallied
> yesterday in Cortlandt Town Hall.
>
> The effort highlighted both conservation and the legislative
> process for students, Galef said.
>
> Students chose from five butterfly species. The others were
> the black swallowtail, the Milbert's tortoiseshell and the
> mourning cloak. Nominees and their information were compiled
> by state entomologist Tim McCabe and, Galef said, scientists
> from the American Museum of Natural History and the Bronx
> Zoo. Karina, who sported a T-shirt advocating the Karner
> blue, had no regrets.
>
> "It's still really great because me and my friends have
> raised a lot of awareness," she said.
>
> Andy Saunders, a professor of environmental and forest
> biology at SUNY's College of Environmental Science and
> Forestry in Syracuse, said the list reflected "sophisticated
> choices," because it didn't fall back on monarchs and
> eastern tiger swallowtails - two of the more recognizable
> species. Saunders taught a butterfly education program for
> 11 years and has studied and written about butterflies in
> the Adirondacks.
>
> Butterflies are glittering, winged ambassadors of nature, he
> said, and are recognized as "harmless and beautiful."
>
> They are also becoming known as harbingers of climate
> change, he said. A change in butterfly numbers or a shift in
> a species' range could be a response to changing
> temperatures or climate conditions, scientists say.
>
> "Don't underestimate the ability of butterflies to focus
> attention on environmental diversity," Saunders said. "They
> represent a very powerful tool to interest people in
> nature."
>
> Once approved by the state Legislature, the red-spotted
> purple or white admiral will join other official flora and
> fauna, including the rose (state flower), beaver (state
> mammal) and bluebird (state bird). In 2006, local students
> similarly helped elevate the snapping turtle to official
> state reptile.
>
> Getting lawmakers in Albany to vote on the butterfly
> measure, though, may be a more difficult step, Leibell said,
> than having students nominate one.
>
> "It will ultimately get to the floor, hopefully before you
> get to college," Leibell said to Karina. "But we are much
> more optimistic than that."
>
>
>
> Thanks Andy.
>
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