The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is planning to add the monarch butterfly to a list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
The proposal would give federal protections to the species, including thousands of acres of habitat and regulations around killing or transporting the butterfly.
Monarchs, like many other pollinators, have seen a drastic drop in their populations, in large part due climate change, habitat loss and pesticide use. Roughly 80% of eastern migratory monarch populations have declined since the 1980s, while its western migratory populations have seen a 95% drop, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is taking comments on the proposal until March 12.
Katie Hawk, executive director of the Oklahoma Monarch Society, said that designating the butterfly as threatened makes sense. Since 2016, her organization has been working on butterfly conservation in the state with the goal of keeping the species off the endangered species list.
“We did not ever want this,” Hawk said. “We wanted to be able to save the monarchs and be done and walk away to be honest.”
She hopes a threatened status will raise awareness to the needs of the species and help it to recover.
The proposal
The Endangered Species Act lists species as either endangered or threatened. A threatened status means the species gets certain federal protections and it is in danger of moving to an endangered status in the future. Species listed as endangered receive more federal protections and are in danger of becoming extinct, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Along with listing monarch butterflies as threatened, the proposal designates nearly 4,400 acres of habitat along the California coast, where the butterfly’s western population spends the winter.
Generally, people would not be allowed to kill or transport the butterfly. People could still remove milkweed – the food source for monarch caterpillars and where monarchs lay eggs – from gardens or fields, as long as it does not convert native or naturalized grassland, shrubland or forested habitats, according to the proposal.
Incidental monarch deaths from vehicle strikes would be allowed. Also, people could only collect, raise and release up to 250 monarchs, including for educational activities and scientific research.
The proposal is a result of a 2014 petition to list the monarch as a threatened species.
Hawk of the Oklahoma Monarch Society said her organization feels the proposal is flexible enough for people to participate. But, she said there are still unknowns.
“So, for example, specific to pesticides, there’s not any information as far as what they are proposing for any regulation changes specific to pesticides,” Hawk said. “They are asking the public to please provide insight and feedback on what that might look like.”
Will Meeks, the Midwest regional director for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said conserving monarchs and other pollinators will take voluntary efforts that include private landowners. He said the comments the agency receives will help to shape what that could look like.
“Specifically, when it comes to some of the best management practices with pesticide and herbicide use to conserve the species,” Meeks said.
Shrinking population
Pollinators have seen pronounced population declines for more than two decades. Eastern monarch colonies wintering in central Mexico took up only 2.2 acres during the 2023-2024 winter season, a 59% drop from the year before, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
Meeks said the nation’s food security relies on pollinators, and they are an indicator of overall environmental health. For him, the proposal is about a call to action to conserve the species.
Kristen Baum is the director of Monarch Watch, a conservation, education and research program at the University of Kansas. The program has tagged the insects for decades to track the monarch butterfly’s migration and has efforts such as milkweed programs for schools and educational nonprofits.
She said the monarch is a connector of people, and multiple organizations have come together to support the butterfly, and in turn, other species. As a result, there’s been a lot of successful voluntary conservation efforts, but she also said numbers are still low.
“With all of these ongoing activities, we still had the second-lowest population size on record, and I will say, we're not particularly optimistic about what the numbers are going to be this year. So, you know, more needs to be done,” Baum said.
Baum said the federal proposal is different from that of other species designations because the butterfly can be found in multiple places, which makes it more challenging.
Her organization has been watching for the proposal. She said it acknowledges the many different conservation actions in motion.
“A lot of it is just meant to make sure that those efforts continue and that there's nothing to deter that,” Baum said.
This story was produced in partnership with Harvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.
