Earth Week action: Submit your public comment to protect the monarch butterfly from extinction!

John,

One of the most important pollinators for our food system — the monarch butterfly — is on the brink of extinction. Yet, there are still no endangered species protections for these butterflies at the federal level. Now, a key decision lies with the Trump administration.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is accepting public comments – extended until May 19 – on a proposal to list the monarch butterfly as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, a process that started under the Biden Administration. We need a critical mass to come together and call for federal protections for this ecologically important species!

Take action this Earth Week, and send your comment to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Protect the monarch butterfly!

North American monarchs fall into two migratory groups: eastern and western. Both are impacted by climate change, pollution, and pesticides, and Food Water Watch has been fighting for years against these threats to their migration patterns and survival.

Since the 1980s, populations of western monarchs have fallen 95%, and there is a greater than 95% chance they will be extinct by 2080. Eastern monarchs face a 56% to 74% chance of extinction over the same time period, if our federal government does not step in to protect them.

The toxic herbicide glyphosate is one of the main drivers of the decline of the monarch butterfly.

Glyphosate is used to kill weeds and is coupled with genetically modified seeds that are resistant to its impacts. This pairing – famously promoted by Monsanto and its “Roundup Ready” seeds – has led to ever-increasing amounts of toxic herbicides being put into the environment, destroying habitats for milkweed and other plants that they depend on for survival.

While the real solution is to stop the escalation of toxic herbicides and halt climate change, last year, the Biden Administration began a critical process to protect the monarch butterfly by proposing to list it as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The current administration extended the comment period on the proposed rule until mid-May.

It’s important that we flood the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with messages supporting the protection of this critical species.

Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to act now to protect monarch butterflies!

While the Trump Administration has been hostile to regulation and environmental protection, under federal law, the agency is required to read and consider every comment submitted. For this reason, it’s all the more important to submit comments now and encourage others to do the same.

This Earth Week, we’re fighting to preserve our bedrock environmental laws, and together, we can force the administration to take action to protect one of our most critical species at the heart of our food system – the monarch butterfly.

Thank you for taking action,