The tiny tiger beetle, found only in southwestern Utah's Coral Pink Sand Dunes, has done something to rival its own rarity: bring off-road enthusiasts and conservationists together.
While still at loggerheads over such issues as wilderness and public land use, dirt bikers, three- and four-wheelers and all-terrain vehicle owners have forged an improbable alliance with environmental interests to protect the state park's colorful, half-quarter inch insect predator."We're stereotyped as being a bunch of wild, crazy guys tearing up everything," says Joe Linza, who represents dealers on Utah's Off-Highway Vehicle Advisory Council. "This is just another way of changing that stereotype.
"We've been educated, and it (the tiger beetle) definitely should be protected."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates only 2,000 of the beetles, formally known as cicindella albissima, cling to 120 to 150 acres of spotty vegetation in the west-central portion of the 3,700-acre park on the Utah-Arizona border.
State and USFWS officials have joined with the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees about 3,300 acres of the dunes area north of the park, in proposing beetle habitat be restricted to nonmotorized use.
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which is seeking inclusion of the beetle on the federal endangered species list, applauds the partnership - to a point.
"It's encouraging, but further study needs to be done before we can definitely say that acreage being set aside is sufficient to protect the species," SUWA staff attorney Heidi McIntosh said.
Protecting existing tiger beetles is the immediate goal, but SUWA also is pushing for establishing the species' "recovery population" - a projection based on available habitat throughout the park. That may require setting aside additional land.
Ensuring survival of the beetle is critical to stewardship of the dunes themselves, McIntosh argues.
"It's like a canary in a coal mine in that it tells us what's happening with that ecosystem down there," she said.
USFWS botanist Larry England agrees, declaring the beetle "vulnerable, probably one of the most restricted species on the face of the planet."
Cicindella albissima likely has been a resident of the Coral Pink Sand Dunes since the iron-rich patch of desert was formed 10,000-15,000 years ago.
With its metallic green thorax and cream-colored wings, the beetle is "an intriguing, beautiful insect in its own right, probably second only to butterflies in popularity to collectors," England said.
Naturally, collecting would be restricted in the proposed beetle protection area.
"We're encouraged that it will all work out," England said. "This will probably end up being a win-win situation for all interested parties - people who appreciate the beetle, people who appreciate the sand dunes and people who enjoy riding on them."
State officials especially have been solicitous of Utah's 71,400 registered off-road vehicle owners about restricting their access to a popular recreation site.
Education of motor-recreationists will underscore not only the need to protect the tiger beetle, but make off-roaders more aware of other areas they can ride along Utah's 14,000 miles of approved trails and roads, said Charles Van Genderen, a state parks and recreation research consultant.