OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is inviting public comments on draft status reviews of the Oregon silverspot butterfly and the tufted puffin, along with a new recovery plan for the distinctive seabird.

In those documents, WDFW recommends keeping both species on the state’s endangered species list.

The draft status review and recovery plan for the tufted puffin is available on the department’s website at https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/02051/. The draft status review for the Oregon silverspot butterfly is posted at https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/02052/.

The department will accept public comments on those documents through May 17.

The tufted puffin, recognizable by its thick red bill and whitish tufts, spends the winter at sea, and nests during spring and summer in coastal colonies from California north to Alaska. Once common along the Washington coast, puffins have suffered a dramatic population decline in recent years.

As discussed in the draft status review, possible reasons for this rapid decline include a reduction in available prey, predation at nesting colonies, and factors related to climate change. The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, which sets policy for WDFW, listed the tufted puffin as endangered in 2015.

The Oregon silverspot butterfly was historically found along the coast from Grays Harbor County to northern California, but disappeared from Washington in the 1980s.The species was listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1980, and as endangered under state law in 1993.

WDFW has been working with a variety of partners since 1990 to restore suitable habitat for Oregon silverspot butterflies with the goal of eventually reintroducing them to the state.

Written comments on documents for both species can be submitted via email to TandEpubliccom@dfw.wa.gov or by mail to Hannah Anderson, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, P.O. Box 43141, Olympia, WA 98504-3200.

WDFW is the primary state agency tasked with preserving, protecting and perpetuating fish and wildlife and ecosystems, while providing sustainable fishing and hunting opportunities.