Good News on the Monarch Front

A monarch egg in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced a proposal to list the monarch butterfly as a threatened species "with species-specific protections and flexibilities to encourage conservation" under Section 4(d) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

"We are also proposing to designate critical habitat at theoverwintering grounds in California," said spokesperson Cal Robinson, public affairs specialist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office. 

 "Under the Endangered Species Act, our agency has flexibilities to tailor protections for threatened species to prevent the further decline of the species and facilitate recovery," he announced. "Our proposed 4(d) rule incentivizes proactive conservation efforts and allows actions that have beneficial or minimal impacts to monarchs and that do not threaten the species' overall population."

USFWS emphasized that this is a "proposed threatened designation for the monarch butterfly, and the monarch butterfly does not have federal protections at this time."

"Through March 2025, we are gathering input through a 90-day public comment period and encourage the submission of any new information. We will review these comments and then we will ultimately issue a final rule. If listed, protections would only go into place after the final rule is published."   

"The proposal to list the monarch butterfly and designate critical habitat will appear in the Federal Register on December 12, 2024. The entire proposed rule package can be found on regulations.gov by searching docket number FWS-R3-ES-2024-0137." 

USFWS will a host a virtual presentation for stakeholders to go over the proposal and take questions on Friday, Dec. 13, at noon (Pacific Time) and at 3 p.m. Eastern (12:00pm Pacific). Follow this link to join.  

For frequently asked questions about this proposal and additional information on the monarch butterfly,  access fws.gov/monarch  

Note that  "As the premiere conservation agency in the United States, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has the responsibility to ensure that the monarch migration phenomenon continues. It's going to take everyone--from government agencies to individuals to ensure a future filled with monarchs. You can do your part for monarchs in your backyard, in your back forty and along every back road."

We are all conservation partners.