The once-common sightings of the brightly colored monarch butterfly have become a rarer experience in recent years across Georgia and other travel paths during the pollinator’s annual migration across North America.
But the federal government wants to stop that trend. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday that it plans to add the monarch butterfly to the list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, granting it federal protections.
Conservationists say they are hopeful that the proposal, if finalized, will lead to a rebound in the shrinking population that once exceeded an estimated 380 million in the mid-1990s.
Since then, the eastern migratory population has declined by 80% while the western migratory population has dropped by more than 95% since the 1980s, according to the federal Fish and Wildlife Service.
Tuesday’s announcement begins a public comment period that will run through March 12. A final decision could come sometime in 2025.
If no action is taken to protect the monarch butterfly, which is known for its orange wings and black markings, the eastern monarchs face as much as a 74% percent probability of extinction by 2080, according to the wildlife service. The risk is even greater for western monarchs, which face a 99% likelihood of extinction.
“The iconic monarch butterfly is cherished across North America, captivating children and adults throughout its fascinating lifecycle. Despite its fragility, it is remarkably resilient, like many things in nature when we just give them a chance,” Fish and Wildlife Director Martha Williams said in a statement. “Science shows that the monarch needs that chance, and this proposed listing invites and builds on unprecedented public participation in shaping monarch conservation efforts.”
The steep decline in the monarch population is attributed to warmer temperatures associated with climate change, the spraying of insecticides and the spread of non-native milkweed plants replacing the native version relied on by the monarch caterpillars. As an adult, the monarch also depends on nectar-producing plants.
Michael Cowan, who is the advocacy committee chair for the Georgia Native Plant Society, said he has only spotted a few monarchs during this year’s spring and fall migration across Georgia.
“One of the things that have to happen for the population not just to rebound, but to be healthy again, is having enough milkweed plants down the Georgia corridor where it migrates, and then reducing the pesticides that people spray for mosquitos,” Cowan said Tuesday. “Unfortunately, they’re not killing the mosquitoes. They’re killing the butterflies.”
Under the proposed protection, killing and transporting monarchs would be prohibited, except in limited circumstances, such as for educational purposes. It would be permissible for farmers to remove some milkweed plants from their properties, but they would be prohibited from making their land uninhabitable for the plants.
The conservation efforts include recommending that farmers and gardeners seed and plant native milkweed and nectar-producing plants. There is also an emphasis on removing brush from milkweed plants and using safer herbicides on farms and woodlands.
The plan also suggests creating more suitable habitat for the butterfly species by only cutting the lawn from November to March, something the federal agency called “conservation mowing.”
Tuesday’s announcement is an initial step in a lengthy process that will play out after the transition from the Biden administration to the upcoming four-year term of President-elect Donald Trump in January.
During Trump’s first term in office, he added language stating that the economic impact will be considered when adding new species to the federal endangered list.
Trump’s first administration tried unsuccessfully to cut in half the budgeted millions of dollars used to run the program. The new fiscal policy prevented the monarch butterfly from gaining federal protections four years ago due to limited resources cited by the Fish and Wildlife Service.
The latest monarch butterfly protection plan includes a proposal to designate critical habitat at the species’ overwintering grounds in California.
Environmental groups like the Sierra Club urged quick action to save the iconic butterfly.
“This is exactly what Congress had in mind when it overwhelmingly passed the Endangered Species Act a half century ago,” said Dan Ritzman, director of conservation at Sierra Club. “For thirty years, we’ve watched the population of monarch butterflies collapse. It is clear that monarchs cannot thrive – and might not survive – without federal protections.”
Cowan emphasized the importance of symbiotic relationships between plants, insects like monarch butterflies, and other animals and their reliance on a healthy ecosystem.
“Unfortunately, when people go into a big box store today and they buy a butterfly bush, which is a non-native plant in Georgia, they think they’re doing something to help butterflies or just pollinators in general,” Cowan said. “They might see lots of pollinating insects but there’s not a single butterfly in Georgia that relies on that bush to lay their eggs on. It does absolutely nothing to help that population from an ecological standpoint to survive the next generation.”
The proposal will likely complicate some development activities, but there were early signs that at least the farmers may be able to live with the federal agency’s strategy for protecting the monarch butterfly.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall, who hails from Georgia, issued a statement Tuesday that signaled a warm reception to a plan that he said recognizes “the need for flexibility in conservation efforts between diverse regions and crops.”
“This opens the door for an important dialogue about farmers as caretakers and cultivators of the land. Our farm families treasure that responsibility,” Duvall said. “We look forward to fully reviewing the proposed designation and plan to submit robust comments before the final determination. We are also committed to the larger goal of modernizing the Endangered Species Act to protect wildlife and promote voluntary efforts to preserve at-risk species.”
This story was provided by WABE content partner Georgia Recorder.
