Due to habitat loss in the Pacific Northwest, Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly was officially listed as an endangered species several years ago. But thankfully, a team of female conservationists and prisoners in Oregon are helping to save them.
The Coffee Creek Correctional Facility is the only women’s prison in the state. The facility hosts a conservation program that recruits prisoners to care for the butterflies. During the program’s first year alone, the team released almost 600 butterflies that were raised in their facility. Later, they released hundreds more. Since the program began in 2017, over 1,200 larvae have been raised and released back into the wild!
The program was created as a source of rehabilitation for the inmates and preservation of the species. It was conducted in collaboration between the Oregon Zoo, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Institute for Applied Ecology.
The facility within the prison provides a controlled, isolated environment for the butterflies with a team of workers at hand. The inmate workers will benefit psychologically and physically, providing them with essential job skills and mental relief.
Oregon Zoo butterfly conservationist Ronda Naseth, who advises the program at Coffee Creek, said:
“Having a captive rearing and release program in Oregon is vital for the recovery of Taylor’s checkerspots.”
She mentions that inmates participating in this species recovery program are eager to share their knowledge with their loved ones. “That has the wonderful ripple effect of more and more people in our communities caring about the future of these butterflies,” she adds.
One of the lab’s five butterfly technicians, Carolyn Exum, who was incarcerated on a 24-year sentence for a felony murder charge, really enjoys working in the lab and saving these butterflies. “It feels like I’m in an actual lab. We work professionally, together… it just takes you out of the actual prison environment, it gives you a sense of peace,” she explains.
Exum said:
“I often say when I’m going to work that we’re saving the earth one butterfly at a time. And I feel like I’m part of a bigger picture. It starts here.”
It doesn’t end there either, when Exum is eligible for release in 2024, she plans to use her experience to begin a career in conservation and give lectures on the importance of the Coffee Creek program.
But Oregon isn’t the only state saving these butterflies. Prisoners at the Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women in Belfair, Washington, are also helping to save the endangered Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies. These efforts are part of the Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP). The SPP works with prisons throughout Washington, the inmates get to apply for the positions and get training, education, and a small wage. Together, they have helped to conserve endangered butterflies, frogs, flowering plants, and moss.
Dennis Aubrey, a student who works in the checkerspot initiative, said:
“Most people are in the prison yard talking about who did them wrong. Then, all of a sudden, guards will tell us they hear people saying, ‘Hey did you see how that moss was growing?'”
