John,
A decade after the Center for Biological Diversity and allies petitioned to protect monarchs under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has finally proposed the iconic butterflies for protection as a threatened species.
Now monarchs need finalized protection — and it can’t come soon enough.
The western monarch population, which winters on the coast of California, has fallen by 95%. The eastern population, which migrates to Mexico for the winter, is at its second-smallest size ever recorded and less than one-sixth the size needed to be out of danger of collapse. We could lose both these beautiful butterfly migrations forever without increased measures to secure their future.
Monarch butterflies are important culturally and ecologically across North America. Generations of people have watched in wonder as yellow-and-black striped caterpillars fold into green-and-gold chrysalises and emerge as large, orange-and-black butterflies. Monarchs’ multigenerational migration is legendary — a journey of up to 3,000 miles from Mexico to Canada, undertaken by animals weighing less than a gram.
We can’t let monarchs go extinct. Protecting them will also benefit the pollinator communities that humans and wild ecosystems depend on.
Tell the Fish and Wildlife Service to promptly finalize strong protections for these winged wonders and their critical habitat before it’s too late.
