Feds propose protecting monarch butterflies under Endangered Species Act

The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on Tuesday proposed listing the monarch butterfly as a threatened species, a move that follows years of mounting concerns about declining counts of the iconic insect.

The decision to grant the butterflies protections under the Endangered Species Act comes after years of analysis and demands from environmental groups for stronger protections for monarchs.

“Today’s monarch listing decision is a landmark victory 10 years in the making. It is also a damning precedent, exposing the driving role of pesticides and industrial agriculture in the ongoing extinction crisis,” George Kimbrell, legal director at the Center for Food Safety, said in a press release. The center is one of the groups that sued the government over the issue several years ago.

The group noted in its statement that the “once-common orange-and-black butterflies have declined by 90% in recent decades, with the latest count showing the second smallest population on record.”

Under the government proposal, critical habitat would be designated for the insect, and a recovery plan crafted. The proposal opens a 90-day comment period that will close on March 12, 2025, after which the FWS is likely to issue a final opinion. It is unclear how the incoming Trump Administration, which is expected to emphasize deregulation, will act on the proposal and comments.

“The iconic monarch butterfly is cherished across North America, captivating children and adults throughout its fascinating life cycle,” US Fish and Wildlife Service director Martha Williams said in a news release.

“Despite its fragility, it is remarkably resilient, like many things in nature when we just give them a chance. Science shows that the monarch needs that chance, and this proposed listing invites and builds on unprecedented public participation in shaping monarch conservation efforts.”

Research suggests that monarch numbers have declined due to due to widespread use of herbicides such as RoundUp, which kills their sole food source, milkweed. This has been facilitated by the development of crop varieties that are resistant to herbicides that include glyphosate, 2,4-D, and dicamba.

Other causes of decline include harm by insecticides such as neonicotinoids, as well as habitat loss and climate change, including increase temperature volatility, warming, and changes in precipitation patterns.

The eastern migratory population has dropped by four-fifths in recent decades, and the western population has declined by more than 95% since the 1980s, according to the FWS — putting the latter group at greater than 99% chance of extinction by 2080, the agency calculated.

(Featured image by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash.)