Federal officials deny Endangered Species Act listing for rare western Alaska flower

An Alaskan glacier buttercup is seen in this undated photo. (Photo by Rob Lipkin/University of Alaska Anchorage Natural Heritage Program, provided by Center for Biological Diversity)

By James Brooks

Alaska Beacon

Officials at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have declined to advance the listing of the Alaskan glacier buttercup flower as threatened or endangered, saying there is little evidence that a planned nearby graphite mine or climate change are threatening the flower.

The service published its determination Monday in the Federal Register alongside seven other petitions for environmental protection. Six of the petitions were deemed worthy of further study; the buttercup and the eastern population of the golden eagle were denied further review.

“We know this administration doesn’t think that climate change is a problem. It’s disappointing but it’s not surprising that they really chose to dismiss the bulk of the climate change problem here,” said Cooper Freeman, who filed the buttercup petition for the Center for Biological Diversity, a national environmental group active in Alaska. 

In most cases, Endangered Species Act protection for an animal or plant will result in development restrictions in areas where that animal or plant lives.

The Alaskan glacier buttercup has been found on only a handful of rocky slopes within the Kigluaik Mountains of the Seward Peninsula.

Those slopes are near the planned site of Graphite One, a planned graphite mine intended to supply raw material for high-tech battery manufacturers outside the state. 

Last year, the Center for Biological Diversity asked the federal government to protect the buttercup, citing both long-term climate change and the prospect that the mine could disrupt the flower’s habitat.

But in its analysis, the Service concluded that there is no evidence so far that construction of the mine or its supporting infrastructure would disturb the slopes where the flower can be found.

While there is some evidence that the flower could be affected by climate change and thus warrant protection, the service concluded that it isn’t clear whether climate change affecting the buttercup’s sister species would also affect the Alaskan subspecies.

“Based on our review of the petition, sources cited in the petition, and other readily available information, we find that the petition does not provide substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that listing the Alaskan glacier buttercup (Ranunculus glacialis subsp. alaskensis) as a threatened species/an endangered species may be warranted,” wrote the staff of the Northern Alaska Fish and Wildlife Field Office in their final analysis.

Freeman, speaking Monday by phone, said the filing was not intended to interfere with construction of the graphite mine, though he doesn’t think the mine is a good idea.

Instead, he said, the petition was one of a number of measures the center is taking in an attempt to protect plants and animals that form the foundation of Arctic ecosystems.

Other animals and plants can simply move north, or to higher elevations when their environment warms, he explained. 

“For species in the Arctic, you’re already at the north end. There’s nowhere to go,” he said.

Freeman said he was alarmed by a 2023 scientific paper that estimated that by 2040, more than 60% of plant species common to the Beringian Arctic — the area around the Bering Strait — could lose some or all of their survivable range due to a warming climate.

“We could be looking at a complete demolition of the base of the Beringian Arctic ecosystem in 15 years. That’s astounding,” he said.

The paper examined 66 species of plants, and while the buttercup wasn’t one of them, he believes it’s similar enough to be threatened by the changing environment.

“We are trying to ring the alarm bells that if we don’t get a handle on this soon, it’s going to be bleak,” he said.

• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.