The New Mexico Rare Arthropod Resource

Another credible threat to this subspecies is fire, both the absence of and presence of it.  Fire suppression has been a key component of forest management in this area since the early 1900s this has severely reduced the meadow habitat that this butterfly relies on as these meadows were historically maintained by small fires (USFWS 2023). However, this fire suppression has now resulted in dense conifer growth and increased fuel loads (Kaufmann et al. 1998). This has resulted in at least nine large catastrophic wildfires in the last fifty years burning over 34,000 acres of land in the Sacramento Mountains (Kaufmann et al. 1998). These large fires could easily knock out this subspecies' host plant causing mass mortality, in adults, larvae, or eggs and easily extirpating the remaining colonies (Holland 2010). 

Pesticide use has also likely adversely impacted this subspecies across its known range (Holland 2010). In 1983 and 1984 during June and July when this taxa is active and overlapping with  its flight period carbaryl pesticides were sprayed using aerial application over 240,900 acres of the Sacramento Mountains at elevations between 1828 and 3353 meters (6,000 and 11,000 feet), to control an outbreak of Western Spruce Budworm (Choristoneura freemani)(Bennett and Linnea 1985). Most of the inhabited areas and waterways were instead sprayed with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).  In another example, in 2007, the Village of Cloudcroft again sprayed Bt var. kurstaki, which targets lepidopterans, to control a Janet Fir Looper (Nepytia janetae) outbreak (Holland 2007). 

This subspecies is also potentially quite threatened by inbreeding depression although little is known about the specific population level dynamics of this butterfly. However, the Sacramento mountains have been isolated from the Sangre de Cristos which represent the closest population of Northern Crescent for around 8,000 to 10,000 years and at this point there is likely very little to no genetic exchange between these two populations (Holland 2010). Additionally, the meadow habitats that this taxa relies on have been quite separated now due to fire suppression and as a result this butterfly is likely existing in a metapopulation dynamic with larger meadows being the sources and smaller meadows serving as sinks although likely many of these meadows are now completely isolated from one another due to fire suppression and localized extirpations. In these isolated populations inbreeding depression can start to arise where slightly deleterious alleles can accumulate in these small populations, reducing the likelihood of population persistence (Hedrick 1994, Lynch et al. 1995). The accumulation of deleterious alleles and reduction in heterozygosity have been shown to reduce survival rates at several important life stages in butterflies, including those that have an effect on population stability and persistence, even after just one generation of mating between full-siblings (Saccheri et al. 1998, Nieminen et al. 2001). Nieminen et al. (2001) also suggests that inbreeding depression may pose an even greater problem in populations currently experiencing rapid habitat fragmentation but with minimal inbreeding in the past. A reduction in fitness resulting from the loss of genetic diversity significantly increases the risk of extinction when populations are subject to environmental stress. Saccheri et al. (1998) found that microclimatic conditions combined with inbreeding caused the extinction of a checkerspot population in Finland, while Singer and Ehrlich (1979) found a combination of drought, fragmented habitat, and low dispersal rates contributed to the extinction of several butterfly populations in California.

Recreational disturbances are also a potential threat to this taxa. As the Sacramento Mountains are the site of many recreational activities including camping, hunting, hiking, mountain biking, and off-highway vehicle (OHV) use. Additionally, grazing by cattle historically and now by elk and feral horses may also be a threat to this butterfly as elk and feral horses are rampant in the Sacramento Mountains however, currently the effect of grazing on this subspecies is unknown and requires further research (USFWS 2004)