“Current Status of the Endangered Island Marble Butterfly” with Sarah Hanson and Walt Andrews
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Join Sarah Hanson, Executive Director of On Sacred Ground, to learn about the history of Island Marble Butterfly as well as recent changes for its recovery plan due to its listing as an endangered species in 2020. Walt Andrews, Island Marble Butterfly Volunteer Program Coordinator, will share how volunteers will play a key role in supporting unique and specific habitat needs of Island Marble, as well as where the volunteer program is headed.
Sarah has been working as a conscious land steward for 25 years. She directed trail and wilderness restoration crews in varied ecosystems from 2003-2012 for Student Conservation Association, Pacific Crest Trail Association and Washington Trails Association in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah, South Carolina and Georgia. She has been a WWOOFer in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Italy and Senegal, learning organic gardening techniques, and is a certified permaculture designer. Sarah was the first program director for the San Juan Island Conservation Corps for 5 seasons from 2012-2016, working with public lands agencies, local non-profits and Coast Salish tribes. She helped pave the way for a Coast Salish Youth Conservation Corps, and served on the San Juan County Agricultural Resources Committee from 2020-2022. She has a B.S. in Geology/Geophysics from Western Washington University, moonlights as a healer, writer, sailor, DIY tinkerer, and has studied indigenous healing with the Q’ero tribe in the high Andes of Peru. Sarah has called San Juan Island home since 2001.
Walt is an ecologist who has worked in research, conservation, agricultural science, outreach, and education. He has experience working with a wide variety of federal, state, and local land managers and with these imperiled species: Hawksbill Sea Turtle, Bull Trout and the Marbled Murrelet. Walt is excited about the possibilities in front of us, for islanders to rally for our endemic Island Marble Butterfly by creating and maintaining habitat with the volunteer program. Walt also works at WSU San Juan County Extension as a Research Assistant, balancing field work with data analysis, presentations and writing, most recently working on wireworms and pasture trials. He enjoys exploring the mountains and islands offer and thoroughly appreciates the scientific process.