The Monarch butterfly needs federal help to survive but won’t get it for now
While protection for Monarch butterflies under the Endangered Species Act is warranted, other species have priority for protection. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday in a highly anticipated decision that the iconic black and orange butterflies are on a waiting list but will not be offered any protection in the meantime.
Habitat loss and climate change in Kansas and North America have caused an estimated 85% reduction in the Monarch population since the 1980s, where 90% of the world’s Monarch population are found, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
The status of the Monarch butterfly will be reviewed each year until the agency decides to list it as a protected species or denies the listing. Tuesday’s action is officially known as “warranted but precluded” because other species have priority.
“Honestly, I expected the Trump Administration to issue a ‘not warranted finding,’” said Tierra Curry, a senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, who has been working on getting Monarch’s protected status for seven years. “I’m glad that it’s ‘warranted but precluded,’ because that means the door is still open for listing.”
Under the Trump Administration, the Endangered Species Act has weakened protections, and the rate at which species are listed for protection has slowed.
Once a species is on the candidate list, the next administration can propose the species for listing. With the incoming Biden administration, Curry believes that chances are good for the Monarch.
“It’s a little hard to know because the species status assessment will be out the day after tomorrow, and we will know more about their scientific reasoning then,” Curry said Tuesday.
It’s also unclear whether this year’s Monarch population count, where fewer than 2,000 Monarchs were found in California, down from 27,000 two years ago, was included in the decision whether to list the Monarch for protections. This announcement is expected later this week.
In the meantime, people can help the Monarchs by educating themselves about climate change and planting and conserving Milkweed populations, according to experts.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was petitioned in 2014 to list the Monarch butterfly as a protected species, according to the agency.
This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 1:43 PM.
