{"id":708232,"date":"2025-02-13T06:55:39","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T14:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=708232"},"modified":"2025-02-12T08:10:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T16:10:12","slug":"national-guard-species-conservation","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation","title":{"rendered":"Butterflies and Bombs: How the National Guard Plays a Vital Role in Species Conservation"},"author":671,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10862],"tags":[],"industry":[],"esri-blog-category":[478412],"esri_blog_department":[478222],"class_list":["post-708232","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-esri","esri-blog-category-wildlife","esri_blog_department-conservation-and-environment"],"acf":{"video_source":"","video_start":"","video_stop":"","short_description":"The Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center uses GIS to ensure a rare butterfly species thrives amidst the chaos of the bombing range.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"The Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center uses GIS maps and apps to ensure a rare butterfly species thrives amidst the chaos of the bombing range.\r\n\r\n<strong>Key Takeaways<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The US National Guard uses GIS to balance military training with the conservation of the eastern regal fritillary butterfly.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Beyond bombs, prescribed burns and other land management practices help maintain the butterfly\u2019s habitat.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Collaboration and data sharing across many organizations keep this rare species thriving.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Every year, tens of thousands of soldiers join combat training exercises at Pennsylvania\u2019s Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center. The 17,000-acre base is also the last natural home of the eastern regal fritillary butterfly. The favorite fields of this rare and striking butterfly are used to train troops on hand grenades, live fire artillery, and tank maneuvers.\r\n\r\nDespite the butterfly\u2019s precarious position, conservationists don\u2019t want bombing exercises stopped or moved. In fact, without this human-made disturbance to their environment, this species could disappear. Land managers at Fort Indiantown Gap work closely with biologists at the US Fish and Wildlife Service and state agencies to manage the butterfly's habitat. They use geographic information system (GIS) technology to record the butterfly population, plan ways to improve the habitat, and analyze how the butterfly responds to changes.\r\n\r\nSince 1992, the National Guard has actively managed the butterfly's habitat. They have set prescribed burns, mowed, seeded, and transplanted the violets the butterfly needs. Biologists have found that violet density increases four times when tanks trample the land and eight times after a prescribed burn.\r\n\r\n\u201cA lot of environments on the East Coast want to be a deciduous forest, so any time there are open fields that don\u2019t have some sort of disturbance to keep it open, it pretty much just turns into a forest,\u201d said Mark Swartz, a wildlife biologist with the Conservation Division at Pennsylvania\u2019s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. \u201cAt the Gap, we see a lot of disturbance, from the military training and also our own land management.\u201d\r\n<h3><strong>A Delicate Species Flourishes in an Unlikely Place<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nWhile the western subspecies can still be found in native grassland, the eastern regal fritillary butterfly, a large, bright orange and black species with distinctive white markings, has been in continual decline as its natural habitat gradually disappears due to urban development and agricultural expansion.\r\n\r\nThe eastern regal fritillary depends on three elements for survival: host plants for the caterpillars, nectar sources for the adult butterflies, and grass to use for shelter. The disturbances created by training activities and land management at Fort Indiantown Gap provide all three."},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[708312,708292,708332]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The only plant that the butterfly\u2019s larvae will eat, and therefore the only available host plant, is the violet. \u201cViolets are a very disturbance-dependent species,\u201d Swartz said. \u201cThey drop out when other plants start growing up nearby.\u201d The butterfly's preferred nectar sources and habitat of open grass both require regular disturbances. \u201cWarm-season grass is disturbance-dependent too,\u201d he explains. \u201cGrass is used by the butterflies for cover in all life stages.\u201d\r\n\r\nIn areas of the base that experience less disturbance, the environmental conditions required by the regal fritillary are maintained in other ways. \u201cFire is an important ecological management tool,\u201d said Virginia Tilden, a conservation biologist with the Conservation Division at Pennsylvania\u2019s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. \u201cWe use prescribed fires to clear out taller grass growth and prevent forest fires in the area, but it also helps maintain the open spaces of native vegetation, and that\u2019s why the butterfly is here.\u201d\r\n<h3><strong>Tracking and Mapping of Habitats<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n\u201cWhen I first started working on this project in 2002, we were still using paper maps,\u201d Swartz said. \u201cWe would look at the maps, pick out an area, and then go look and see what was there.\u201d By 2010, Fort Indiantown Gap staff had started to use GIS to map the butterfly's habitat. They created map layers with data about the environment to track and analyze the area\u2019s fragile conditions.\r\n\r\nThe isolation of the subspecies leaves it vulnerable. In recent years, the Gap has partnered with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, ZooAmerica, Temple University, Pennsylvania Western University, and Penn State DuBois to establish new sites in the state where the species can thrive.\r\n\r\nTo track the current butterfly population and environmental conditions, and aid in developing new places where the species can thrive, Fort Indiantown Gap staff developed a GIS-powered workflow. \u201cWe started using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/arcgis\/products\/arcgis-survey123\/overview?srsltid=AfmBOori48r48_eBYS2TFat5Sso8pY5vqv2jlOE-l8n79k19gFvwWarA\">ArcGIS Survey123<\/a> to create public apps for the students who will be helping us at the reintroduction sites,\u201d Tilden said."},{"acf_fc_layout":"gallery","gallery_images":[708282,708272]},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Volunteers and staff use the app to count adult butterflies and the locations of violets and other nectar plants. They share the maps and data on a central website so everyone can see it in real time.\r\n<h3><strong>Sharing Data Between Organizations<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nDespite these conservation efforts, the future of the eastern regal fritillary butterfly remains uncertain. The species\u2019 numbers remain low, and in August, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fws.gov\/press-release\/2024-08\/usfws-proposes-esa-protections-both-subspecies-regal-fritillary-butterfly#:~:text=In%20collaboration%20with%20the%20Service,and%20collection%20to%20mention%20some.\">US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed adding it to the endangered species list<\/a>. Work is now underway to adapt GIS tools and apps to release and track the adult butterflies that ZooAmerica propagates in carefully chosen sites across Pennsylvania.\r\n\r\nConservationists and land managers collaborate with GIS tools. \u201cIf we need data, we can email Penn West and the students will go out, use the nectar plant density app, collect all the information, and upload it,\u201d Swartz said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to have partners collecting data we can access almost in real time, because some of our sites are 300 miles away. Instead of waiting while we drive four hours each way, we have the data as soon as they finish the survey.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe sharing goes both ways. \u201cIf somebody needs a GIS file that we have, like site information or game lands, we share back and forth. It\u2019s a great resource.\u201d\r\n\r\nConservation teams can quickly adjust their actions based on the latest data, enhancing efforts to protect the eastern regal fritillary butterfly. They work with a deeper and more immediate understanding of ecological dynamics and conservation needs. This level of informed collaboration, together with technology, helps make sure that every action taken is as effective as possible in keeping the butterfly's habitat safe.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nLearn how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/conservation\/overview?srsltid=AfmBOoq9BiDic9V6Gt8Qagz1C1DzFq5qljBvhWxGr1JgSH53XxrbSGm9\">conservation organizations protect biodiversity with GIS<\/a>."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How the National Guard Maps to Protect a Rare Butterfly<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center uses GIS to safeguard a rare butterfly species amidst the chaos of the bombing range.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Butterflies and Bombs: How the National Guard Plays a Vital Role in Species Conservation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center uses GIS to safeguard a rare butterfly species amidst the chaos of the bombing range.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Esri\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2024\/10\/974506-Royal-Fritillary-closeup-826.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Esri\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation\",\n\t            \"name\": \"How the National Guard Maps to Protect a Rare Butterfly\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2025-02-13T14:55:39+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"The Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center uses GIS to safeguard a rare butterfly species amidst the chaos of the bombing range.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Butterflies and Bombs: How the National Guard Plays a Vital Role in Species Conservation\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Esri\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Esri Newsroom\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/8ad23580b2658589de4ea5107d75cb52\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Matt Ball\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Author-photo-2024-768x768.jpg\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Author-photo-2024-768x768.jpg\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Matt Ball\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"description\": \"Matt Ball is the editor of the Esri Blog and writes about applications of geospatial technology for all its departments. With nearly 30 years of reporting on GIS technology, he has chased future-forward user stories and watched as wild ideas, innovative tools, and enterprise-wide geographic approaches have become common practice. Prior to Esri, he edited GeoWorld magazine, organized the GeoTec Event, founded V1 Media, and launched Sensors &amp; Systems and Informed Infrastructure magazines. He\u2019s thrilled to be closer to GIS users, and at a company that pushes what\u2019s possible.\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/author\/mball\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How the National Guard Maps to Protect a Rare Butterfly","description":"The Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center uses GIS to safeguard a rare butterfly species amidst the chaos of the bombing range.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Butterflies and Bombs: How the National Guard Plays a Vital Role in Species Conservation","og_description":"The Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center uses GIS to safeguard a rare butterfly species amidst the chaos of the bombing range.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation","og_site_name":"Esri","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2024\/10\/974506-Royal-Fritillary-closeup-826.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Esri","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation","name":"How the National Guard Maps to Protect a Rare Butterfly","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-02-13T14:55:39+00:00","description":"The Fort Indiantown Gap National Guard Training Center uses GIS to safeguard a rare butterfly species amidst the chaos of the bombing range.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/national-guard-species-conservation#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Butterflies and Bombs: How the National Guard Plays a Vital Role in Species Conservation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/","name":"Esri","description":"Esri Newsroom","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/8ad23580b2658589de4ea5107d75cb52","name":"Matt Ball","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Author-photo-2024-768x768.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Author-photo-2024-768x768.jpg","caption":"Matt Ball"},"description":"Matt Ball is the editor of the Esri Blog and writes about applications of geospatial technology for all its departments. With nearly 30 years of reporting on GIS technology, he has chased future-forward user stories and watched as wild ideas, innovative tools, and enterprise-wide geographic approaches have become common practice. Prior to Esri, he edited GeoWorld magazine, organized the GeoTec Event, founded V1 Media, and launched Sensors &amp; Systems and Informed Infrastructure magazines. He\u2019s thrilled to be closer to GIS users, and at a company that pushes what\u2019s possible.","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/author\/mball"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/708232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/708232\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708232"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=708232"},{"taxonomy":"esri-blog-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/esri-blog-category?post=708232"},{"taxonomy":"esri_blog_department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/esri_blog_department?post=708232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}