No Carson skippers found in Carson, freeway redesign not needed

University of Nevada, Reno researchers won't put away their nets until this fall, but say chances are slim they'll find any of the "wandering skippers" that had been spotted in the area last year.

"We still have to minimize the impacts to the habitat," said Susan Martinovich, assistant director of engineering for the Nevada Department of Transportation. "But it means we don't have to look at a whole redesign of the freeway."

"Is that good news or is that good news?" said former Carson City Mayor Marv Teixeira, a longtime advocate of the bypass. "Super, evidently, the butterflies are somewhere else and I wish them the best."

No skippers were found in the wetland area off of Lompa Lane, but were found in other saltgrass habitats along the eastern Sierra front ranging from Honey Lake, Calif., near Susanville to Mono Lake near Mammoth Lakes.

The skipper study conducted by the UNR research team was done for $100,000.

Martinovich said NDOT will submit its plans to federal and state agencies to get a permit for the required hydraulic, wetlands and wildlife work this month. The agencies have 30 to 45 days to respond.

The state expects to seek builders for the northern leg of the $82.7 million bypass project in October 1999. First-phase construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2000 and be completed by 2003.

Martinovich said that the cost of the survey and the alternatives for the butterfly won't cause concerns about funding for the project.

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