Thirty years ago, a visitor walking through the Petersburg State Game Area (PSGA) in Monroe County might have noticed a small blue butterfly in the open meadows. Twenty years ago, the same visitor almost certainly wouldn't have.

Sometimes the old days are better.

So wildlife officials in the Department of Natural Resources hope to reestablish the Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis), an endangered species that completely disappeared from the southeastern corner of the state.

Reintroducing the butterflies to PSGA began in 2004 with the formation of a team of wildlife professionals to plan the effort. The team toured the area and determined PSGA could have suitable habitat for the butterflies to breed and survive.

"The goal for the game area soon became to restore and maintain natural biotic communities without disturbing existing unique features," said Joe Robison, DNR wildlife biologist. "The program hopes to complement natural processes and local area ecology without restricting public use."

This cooperative project with the Detroit Zoo and the DNR is focused on restoring sustainable, naturally functioning systems where possible, and actively managing those systems that cannot be restored to function naturally.

The Karner blue butterfly (KBB) was extirpated from this area primarily because of fire suppression and natural succession; KBB do not do well in mature wood lands. The last known sighting of this butterfly in the game area occurred in the late 1980s.

An initial habitat survey conducted by the team assessed what needed to be done to restore the habitat to the butterfly's liking. The team found that although much of the habitat was similar to Allegan State Game Area and Kitty Todd Preserve (in northwest Ohio) -- both of which support good populations of KBBs -- some essential nectar-producing plants were lacking.

"Some of our management activities at PSGA, such as brush clearing, mowing and burning, have been very effective at restoring the traditional savanna habitat conditions where the butterflies can thrive," Robison said. "By hand-seeding and hand-planting plugs of preferred vegetation, including lupine, black-eyed Susan and little blue-stem, the site became more KBB-friendly."

Robison said continued management work will be necessary to maintain and further restore the sites to meet the ongoing needs of the butterflies.

The habitat improvement, which took a number of years, also has produced benefits for a number of other wildlife species.

Visitors to the game area are seeing more butterflies (though no KBBs yet) and songbirds since the work was initiated and several game species -- such as wild turkey, pheasant and woodcock -- are more plentiful, too.

Now comes the moment of truth.

Earlier this month, personnel from the Detroit Zoo, in conjunction with state, federal and private partners, collected adult Karner blue butterflies from the Allegan State Game Area.

"The offspring from the collected specimens will be raised in special propagation enclosures at the Detroit Zoo and the first release of captive-reared butterflies has been scheduled for early July at PSGA," said Laura Palombi, associate curator of invertebrates at the Detroit Zoo.

In addition, Palombi said some eggs from the captive-reared adults will be maintained at the zoo to establish a breeding colony.

"The plan is to release descendants of these captive butterflies into the wild at the PSGA over the next five to seven years," Palombi said.

The zoo and volunteers will monitor the KBB population at the game area every year and will continue releasing captive-reared butterflies until the population can be considered self-sustaining. According to the federal recovery plan, a minimum viable population consists of at least 3,000 individuals.

"Releasing the Karner blue butterflies into Monroe County is really a test of our ability to restore an ecosystem," Robison said. "These butterflies depend upon the unique features of healthy savannas."

So if you plan to be out walking through the Petersburg State Game Area in early July, look around; you just might see a little blue.