A Silvery Blue butterfly released by scientists from the California Academy of Sciences rests in the sand dunes of the Presidio in San Francisco, Calif., Tuesday, April 29, 2025. The Silvery Blue release is part of an effort to fill the role played by the Xerces butterfly that went extinct 80 years ago. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

A Silvery Blue butterfly released by scientists from the California Academy of Sciences rests in the sand dunes of the Presidio in San Francisco, Calif., Tuesday, April 29, 2025. The Silvery Blue release is part of an effort to fill the role played by the Xerces butterfly that went extinct 80 years ago. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

Local thinkers are pushing for de-extinction, and the slate of tools and tricks that accompany it, but others say it’s a dangerous distraction.