U.S. officials moved Tuesday to protect the monarch, an iconic orange-and-black butterfly famous for its marathon migration across North America, under the Endangered Species Act.
Advertisement Story continues below advertisement “The species has been declining for a number of years,” Fish and Wildlife biologist Kristen Lundh said in a video interview.
The flight of the monarch Perhaps no butterfly is more recognizable than the monarch.
The agency is proposing to designate the monarch, whose caterpillars eat a plant called milkweed, as one step below endangered.
“Our farm families treasure that responsibility.” One butterfly, two butterfly, three butterfly, four … Insect populations are notoriously difficult to count and are known to fluctuate widely from year to year based on the weather and other conditions.
U. S. Using the Endangered Species Act, authorities took action Tuesday to save the monarch butterfly, a recognizable orange-and-black butterfly known for its arduous journey across North America.
The U. S. As the monarch butterfly makes its spectacular yearly journey from the Mexican mountains through the United States and Canada, the Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to declare the tiny migrating butterfly endangered could have a significant impact on landowners throughout its vast range, which covers much of the Lower 48.
The monarch would be among the most common species ever protected under the 1973 law if the proposed rule is approved. But according to federal scientists, the action is required because the butterfly’s population is being severely reduced by a number of factors, such as climate change, logging in its Mexican overwintering habitat, the destruction of grasslands in the United States, and chemicals used on plants and insects.
Kristen Lundh, a biologist with Fish and Wildlife, stated in a video interview that the species has been in decline for several years. We want everyone to understand that this species is in decline and that we have a chance to help stop it. “”.
“🌱.”.
Observe the environment and climate.
While some monarch scientists outside the government argue that worries about the monarch’s extinction are exaggerated, officials warn that if nothing is done, it is likely to permanently disappear from the continent.
The monarch is among the most well-known species in danger of going extinct; an estimated 1 million plants and animals face extinction as a result of climate change, habitat loss, and other human-caused hazards. For ecosystems and the people who depend on them, the loss of pollinators like butterflies could have serious consequences.
The Monarch’s flight.
The monarch is arguably the most recognizable butterfly.
As a vibrant sign of the season changing, a kaleidoscope of orange insects fans out from Mexico each spring to pollinate and reproduce throughout the United States east of the Rockies. The butterfly, whose tiny wings some locals believe carry the souls of ancestors, flutters back south across the Rio Grande to survive the winter when the temperature starts to drop.
The fragile creature is a potent symbol of resiliency because the brief insect’s journey takes several generations. Winters in coastal California are spent by a smaller population from the west.
However, Rebeca Quiñonez-Piñón, monarch recovery strategist for the National Wildlife Federation, says that rising temperatures are increasingly upsetting the journey by deceiving them into staying north for too long.
“The monarchs are truly becoming perplexed,” Quiñonez-Piñón stated. It resembles a trap to them. When they should be heading south, they become stuck in certain isolated areas. “.”.
Its winter resting place is being encroached upon by illegal logging in Mexico, where some monarch defenders have been killed, for those that do return.
A step below endangered status is what the agency is proposing to assign to the monarch, whose caterpillars consume a plant known as milkweed. Large landowners would likely have to consult with Fish and Wildlife before implementing any development that would seriously damage the habitat of butterflies if the new rule were to become final.
The government would continue to permit a wide range of other activities, such as small-scale monarch rearing by schools and other organizations, vehicle strikes, basic yard maintenance for homeowners, and some regular farming operations. Nearly 4,400 acres in California are also being proposed for protection by the agency as vital habitat for the western cohort.
According to Lundh, “we want to ensure that people can still have monarchs in the classroom.”.
Although the agricultural lobbying group American Farm Bureau Federation is appreciative that the proposal allows for flexibility for farmers, they intend to thoroughly examine it and provide input to the agency.
Zippy Duvall, president of the group, said in a statement that this “opens the door for an important dialogue about farmers as caretakers and cultivators of the land.”. “Our farming families value that duty.”. “.”.
There are one, two, three, four, and so on.
Because of the weather and other factors, insect populations are notoriously hard to count and are known to vary greatly from year to year. The overwintering monarch acreage in Mexico has been steadily declining, which led federal officials to conclude that it is in trouble.
Following a population decline of over 95 percent from over 4 to 5 million in the 1980s, federal scientists estimate that the western monarch has a 99 percent chance of going extinct in the next 60 years.
With a decline of roughly 80% from an estimated 380 million in the mid-1990s, the eastern population faces a 56–74 percent chance of extinction during the same time period. However, with pockets of non-native monarchs dispersed throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia, complete annihilation is unlikely.
This sobering conclusion is not shared by all monarch researchers.
In a recent analysis of monarch observations from the annual butterfly count conducted by the North American Butterfly Association, Andy Davis, an ecologist at the University of Georgia, and his colleagues found no significant overall decline. There is no proof that monarchs or milkweed have decreased over the previous 75 years, according to another team of researchers examining genetic alterations.
When monarchs are listed under the Endangered Species Act, Davis fears that more people will breed them in large numbers, which could increase the risk of spreading parasites that kill the butterfly.
“In the summer, they haven’t really shown any decline,” Davis stated. At that point in time, the monarchs are in the US. That doesn’t indicate that a species is threatened or endangered. “”.
Despite considering those studies, officials said the Fish and Wildlife Service concluded that examining the population’s overwintering habitat was the most effective method of evaluating its health.
“Counting butterflies when they are all together is the simplest and most direct method to ascertain the population’s size,” said Lara Drizd, an agency biologist.
“There’s a lot of noise in that data when you’re measuring by trying to survey essentially the entire country,” she continued. “”.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature, a network that monitors species status, declared North American monarchs endangered in 2022 but, in response to Davis’s petition, upgraded their status to “vulnerable.”.
In order to make a final decision by the end of 2025, the Fish and Wildlife Service will accept comments on its proposal until March 12. What the new rule will mean when Donald Trump takes office in January is unknown. Federal scientists discovered that monarchs had declined in population during his previous administration and should be protected, but that other species should come first.
Rep. The proposed rule was criticized by Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas), the chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, who claimed it demonstrated why the Endangered Species Act needed to be changed to grant states more authority.
He said in a statement that the best way to implement ESA reform is to empower states and private landowners, citing monarchs as a prime example. The ESA’s recovery objectives have not been met in its 50 years of operation. “.”.
Ordinary people can take action to improve the butterfly’s habitat by planting more native milkweed, even if the proposed monarch rule is changed or eliminated.
According to Clay Bolt, manager of pollinator conservation for the World Wildlife Fund, “stabilizing and reversing population trends requires an all-hands approach that not only relies on government protections but also collaboration among landowners, farmers, conservationists, and everyday citizens.”.
