Friend,

Bee-killing pesticides are everywhere: A study found neonicotinoids -- a dangerous class of pesticides -- on more than half of all sampled plants.[1]

And if there's one place where bees should be safe, it's wildlife refuges. Yet for the last three years, a Trump administration rollback has allowed neonicotinoids, or "neonics," in wildlife refuges.[2]

With bee populations hitting dire lows in recent years, we must work to protect bees where they should be safest. Friend, will you help us?

Tell the Biden administration: Keep bees safe in wildlife refuges.
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Seven years ago, the Obama administration announced that bee-killing neonics would no longer be allowed in wildlife refuges.[3] The result? Bees were free to roam the 95 million acres of protected lands without the threat of bee-killing pesticides. But the Trump administration reversed course.

When the Trump administration removed this critical protection, it put bees in harm's way. Neonics do more than damage bees' habitat -- they keep bees from sleeping, alter their feeding habits, and diminish their ability to reproduce.[4]

At Environment Colorado, we know the importance of bees. They're nature's best pollinators. That's why we're working to give bees a chance, but in order to do that, we have to protect them in their safe havens.

Help keep neonics out of wildlife refuges.
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In recent years, beekeepers have seen some of the worst-ever die-offs.[5,6] Neonics contributed to bee colony losses of more than 40 percent in 2019 alone.[7]

While research shows that wildlife refuges can protect bee populations, a wildlife refuge filled with neonics is no refuge at all.[8]

With a new administration in Washington, D.C., we're working to bring back the Obama-era ban that protected bees in wildlife refuges. Will you join us?

Tell the Biden administration: Give bees a chance.
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Thank you,

Hannah Collazo
State Director

1. Staff, "Lowe's says it will cut out neonic pesticides -- by 2019," Concho Valley News, April 10, 2015.
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2. "Trump administration lifts ban on pesticides linked to declining bee numbers," The Guardian, August 3, 2018.
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3. "Trump administration lifts ban on pesticides linked to declining bee numbers," The Guardian, August 3, 2018.
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4. Marissa Shapiro, "Honey bees lose sleep after ingesting pesticides, leading to greater stress and lower hive survival rates," Vanderbilt University, November 5, 2020.
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5. University of Maryland, "US beekeepers reported lower winter losses but abnormally high summer losses," Science Daily, June 22, 2020.
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6. University of Maryland, "U.S. beekeepers lost over 40 percent of colonies last year, highest winter losses ever recorded," Science Daily, June 19, 2019.
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7. Dharna Noor, "A Record Number of Bees Died Last Summer," Gizmodo, June 22, 2020.
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8. Ezra S. Auerbach, William P Johnson, Jude R Smith, Nancy E McIntyre, "Wildlife Refuges Support High Bee Diversity on the Southern Great Plains," Oxford Academic, May 22, 2019.
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