Save Northeast Park (Ann Arbor)

Needless to say, several strong environmental objections can be raised to the planned park development. The problems can be summarized into five major categories: 1) loss of significant butterfly nectaring habitat, 2) possible local extinction of the Wild Indigo Duskywing, 3) loss of Woodcock dancing grounds, 4) other adverse impacts on breeding and migrating birds and 5) loss of openlands.

Butterfly Nectaring Habitat

Important butterfly nectaring habitat will be lost. The habitat in question is a very large patch (or more precisely patches) of Crown Vetch, Pink Clover and Alfalfa. Virtually all this area is to be converted to playing fields, roads and parking lots. The combination of flowering Crown Vetch, Pink Clover, and Alfalfa at Northeast Park is a powerful attractant for butterflies. Large numbers of individual butterflies and butterfly species use these flowering patches as important sources of food. Data I collected doing butterfly surveys at the park from mid-July to mid-November of last year show this to be true (see data summary enclosed below).

Some of these butterflies are uncommon or rare in the Washtenaw county area. Among the uncommon butterflies found in the park last year were Wild Indigo Duskywing, Buckeye, Variegated Fritillary, Fiery Skipper, Horace Duskywing, Common Sootywing, and Painted Lady. Also, due to the suitability of the nectaring sources and old field habitat, Northeast park is a prime location to look for very rare southern immigrant butterflies such as Sachem, Checkered Skipper, Gray Hairstreak, Dainty Sulphur, and Checkered White. None of these were found there last year but one of these special butterflies could show up in 2001.

Nectaring sites are crucial for adult butterflies and their lack can limit butterfly populations just as well as removing their host plants. By wiping out virtually all the major nectaring sources at the park, the proposed development of paved roads, parking lots, game courts, and grass soccer fields will have an extremely adverse impact on butterfly populations there .

Wild Indigo Duskywing

A related butterfly loss will occur to the Wild Indigo Duskywing--a small spread-wing skipper butterfly. Normally the species uses Wild Indigo and possibly Wild Lupine as host plants. However it has recently adapted to feeding on Crown Vetch. Crown Vetch at Northeast park is extremely plentiful. Undoubtedly this fact has allowed a large and thriving population of Wild Indigo Duskywings to breed there. Until fairly recently (the last four years) this butterfly was thought to be uncommon or rare in southeast Michigan. Even now the butterfly has a limited distribution and is not at all common. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources lists the butterfly as a species of special concern for the whole state of Michigan. That status does not quite give it legal protections but does mean that its populations should be monitored closely and that future research may require elevation of its status to a legally protected category. The size of the local population at Northeast Park may be the largest of its kind in southeast Michigan. In doing butterfly surveys in southeast Michigan over the past four years, I have never encountered another population of the species anywhere else close in size. Current plans call for removing all the Crown Vetch from the park. Such action will most certainly lead to the extirpation of species at the site.

A loss of the Wild Indigo Duskywing from Northeast Park has possible ramifications for the species at South Foxfire. During the past couple of years the species has been seen in South Foxfire's wet meadows with some regularity. However only small amounts of Crown Vetch exist in direct proximity to the site. I speculate that the Northeast park population may function as a 'source' that maintains the presence of the species at South Foxfire 'the sink'. Lose the Wild Indigo Duskywing population at Northeast park and it may vanish from South Foxfire as well--a double tragedy.

Continue the argument against developing Northeast Area Park. Click the links to see other aspects of the story.