Robbins cinquefoil is an adorable and remarkable alpine species. It’s smaller than a quarter in size even when flowering, a survivor from the last ice ages and a species that once teetered on the edge of extinction and garnered protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Its populations are confined to a few small and rugged havens along the Appalachian Trail in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Hundreds, if not thousands, of plants were plucked from the ground by mountain climbers in the 1800s who happened to notice this yellow-flowered oddity. They picked it as if picking a daisy from a meadow for closer inspection, completely unaware of the impact of such a mundane action on the plight of an entire evolutionary lineage.
Then construction of Crawford Path hiking trail in 1819 increased visitation through Monroe Flats, speeding the species’ slide toward oblivion — those plants that escaped the daisy pickers faced an increased chance of death by hiking boot and rock slide. By 1973, only 1,801 flowering individuals remained on Earth.
Then three things happened in quick succession that turned this from a tragedy to a comeback story.
The Appalachian Mountain Club launched an educational campaign asking visitors to help protect this very special plant. It was a brave move — rarity is a double-edged sword and conservation practitioners often prefer secrecy to public service announcements as attention can attract illegal collecting. But it worked.
Next the Appalachian Mountain Club and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service teamed up to reroute Crawford Path away from Robbins cinquefoil populations. And finally, Native Plant Trust was brought in to research how to propagate this species from seed opening the door to reintroductions that bolstered existing populations and established new ones.
Because of these recovery efforts, by 1999 4,575 flowering plants were observed in the White Mountains, nearly triple the total number of plants recorded 26 years prior. Three years later, in 2002, Robbins cinquefoil was removed from the Endangered Species List.
According to the Fish and Wildlife Service website, only 135 species have ever been removed from the Endangered Species Act list which now totals more than 4,000 taxa of plants and animals — and 32 of these because they went extinct.
Only 57 species have ever been removed from the endangered species list because they recovered to the point they were no longer in danger of extinction.
With so few success stories, one may come to the conclusion that the fuss isn’t worth it. But another question can be asked: are we serious about our efforts to save species from extinction? Cuts to federal land management agencies, drastic reductions in both senior staff and entry level federal roles, and proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act that weaken protections for endangered and threatened species will make successful recovery harder — but not impossible — to repeat.
What did it take to save Robbins cinquefoil after all? Not that much actually. It took noticing that we had a problem through monitoring, learning to care about the potential extinction of a small plant through an educational campaign, a detour in a hiking trail and the enthusiasm of three organizations and hundreds of volunteers. But most of all, it took people agreeing it was intolerable to watch a species blink out of existence.
Species recovery is difficult and uncertain work made all the more difficult and uncertain by federal headwinds and few successes to help build momentum. However, if history is our teacher, a stronger focus on endangered and threatened plants could save species, build stronger coalitions and strengthen public support for the Endangered Species Act.
The Act is so often positioned as in opposition to business interests rather than as critical to preventing permanent extinction of the biodiversity all life depends on. It’s an ethical stand that says, “Sure, losing that one little flowering plant might not be a big deal in the long run, but if we let one of them go what will prevent us from letting them all go?” The reality is that no animal, and no civilization, can survive in nature without plants.
I am incredibly proud to live, work and play in the Northeast where states continue to step up land protection, ecosystem restoration and access to nature for all. And even with federal cuts, I am undeterred. Just like species recovery, the work that happens in our states and in our region doesn’t just benefit those of us who live here, it benefits all life on this planet.
Tim Johnson is the CEO of Native Plant Trust, an organization dedicated to preserving plants in New England.