Endangered butterfly gaining momentum in North Dakota AMY R. SISK, The Bismarck Tribune July 11, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — It’s Christmas in July for the Dakota skipper, a yellow-beige butterfly that crawls up bunchgrass this time of year and flutters about the coneflowers blooming across the rolling plains. While it slurps up nectar, surveyors working with energy companies and conservation groups scour the hills -- carefully -- to document the skipper, which is considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act. One of those surveyors is Luke Toso, who in early July can often be found among “a bunch of guys with hats and cameras stumbling around the prairie looking for butterflies,” as he described it one recent morning before heading out into the field.