Feds to study butterfly found in Southwest
Federal officials plan to study the status of a butterfly once found across the Southwest to see if it warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday announced it will conduct a 12-month review of the Great Basin silverspot butterfly.
Environmentalists had petitioned the agency to consider the butterfly’s status, saying it has been losing habitat due to development, grazing, mining and changing hydrological conditions.
With its black markings, the orange-brown butterfly lives in streamside meadows, seeps and wetlands in the high desert. It uses the nectar of thistles and horsemint.
Federal biologists say the butterfly is found in southwestern Colorado and on the Navajo Nation in Arizona and New Mexico. Historically, it was also found in northern New Mexico and eastern Utah.
Report charts history of abuse at Grand Canyon
A new report by a federal watchdog outlines a history of harassment on river trips through Grand Canyon National Park in which male park employees allegedly propositioned female colleagues for sex, touched them inappropriately and made lewd comments.
The report comes after 13 current and former Grand Canyon employees filed a complaint in September 2014 saying women had been abused over 15 years. It was released Tuesday by the Department of the Interior’s Office of Inspector General.
About a dozen people have faced disciplinary action for sexual misconduct since 2003, ranging from a written reprimand to termination. But investigators say those actions are inconsistent, and many alleged incidents go unreported.
One longtime human resources official interviewed by investigators said a “laissez faire” attitude exists of “what happens on the river, stays on the river.” Grand Canyon officials until recently allowed river rafters to bring alcohol on the trips.
A National Parks Service spokesman said the agency has zero tolerance for the behavior cited in the report.
Incidents of sexual harassment on the national park trips included a boatman photographing an employee under her skirt, a supervisor grabbing a contract employee’s crotch and park employees twerking during a dance party as a river trip was wrapping up, according to the report.
Durango recognizes Indigenous Peoples’ Day
This year, Durango will recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the second Monday of October, after a decision this week by Durango City Council.
Fort Lewis College student Ruthie Edd, who advocated for the recognition of the holiday to replace Columbus Day, hopes it will give students, teachers and the community in general an opportunity to talk about Native American history and the history of indigenous people around the world.
“It’s really to celebrate and to heal and also to connect on both sides,” she said.
Growing up in Durango, she found Thanksgiving and Columbus Day were some of the times in school when people would talk about Native Americans. She hopes the new holiday will be a platform for cultural awareness.
“It can be really hard, especially for younger students, to be a voice for their culture,” she said.
She became more of an advocate in high school and has stayed involved with the Peace Leader of the Diné Club on campus.
