Monarch butterflies: endangered species?

Posted 8/21/12

This week we were thinking about two Upper Delaware River Valley conservationists: Barbara Yeaman and Ed Wesely, founders of the Butterfly Barn Nature Center in Damascus, PA. Last summer it closed …

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Monarch butterflies: endangered species?

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This week we were thinking about two Upper Delaware River Valley conservationists: Barbara Yeaman and Ed Wesely, founders of the Butterfly Barn Nature Center in Damascus, PA. Last summer it closed after two decades during which Wesely “rescued monarch butterfly eggs and caterpillars from threatened habitats and, with the help of local children, nurtured and released more than 7,000 adult monarchs” (www.butterflybarn.org/).

Today, throughout North America, monarch butterflies are in more trouble than ever, and it will take a massive effort on the part of many people and organizations to save them. Over the last 20 years, as the monarchs have lost 165 million acres of habitat, their population has plummeted 90%. Where once there were a billion monarchs, now there are an estimated 35 million. If that number sounds big, consider this: in one storm in January 2002 in the monarchs’ wintering grounds in central Mexico, cold temperatures and rain claimed 250 million butterflies (80% of their then population). What if a similar storm happened this winter? Well, you do the math.

Recently, information about two important efforts to save monarch butterflies crossed our desk.

Endangered species listing?

Two weeks ago on August 26, three organizations—the Center for Biological Diversity, the Center for Food Safety and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation—joined by monarch butterfly scientist Lincoln Brower petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to put monarchs on the Endangered Species List. (Established under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, the list is a tool aimed at reversing the trend of human-caused extinctions by protecting endangered and threatened species and their habitats.) The government now has 90 days to consider if such a listing may be warranted. If the agency finds merit, it has up to a year to decide on and then to issue special rules to protect monarchs and their habitat. This would be followed by a period for public comment.

This petition comes even as Congress looks at six bills that would roll back ESA protections. On Tuesday, September 9, the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources took testimony regarding the so-called ESA Improvement Act of 2014 (HR4284) sponsored by Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX). This bill would amend the ESA to require the Fish and Wildlife Service to coordinate with interested states on State Protective Action (SPA) plans when considering listing new species. Sponsors claim that SPAs would, in many cases, preclude the need for an endangered species listing and would assign species management authority at the state and local level. In its long history, this is only the latest attack on the ESA. We believe that the act’s successes in saving species far outweigh its failures, which are largely a problem of waiting too long to list a species for it to fully recover.

Grassroots campaign to save monarchs

The other information that crossed our desk was about the 2014 Bring Back the Monarchs campaign by monarchwatch.org in which volunteers are being sought (1) to collect wild milkweed seeds and/or (2) to plant milkweed in every region of the country (monarchwatch.org/bring-back-the-monarchs/campaign/2014-campaign). Milkweed are essential to the monarchs’ lifecycle, because its larvae feed on milkweed.

The plan calls for forming partnerships with (a) nurseries to produce young milkweed plants (plugs) to be used in landscape restoration in cooperation with (b) organizations such as 4H groups, schools, science clubs, native plant societies, county conservation organizations, land managers and others to plant milkweeds. Seeds and plugs would be planted along roadsides, at nature centers, within municipalities, in natural landscapes adjacent to schools, businesses, private lands and other public lands.

In the age of the Internet, here is the amazing thing about this initiative: monarchwatch.org is run by just three people. As their website says, “To take on this mission, we need to network with individuals and groups that share a similar vision. We need partners, resources (seeds, plants), and financial support.” Wouldn’t it be remarkable if their effort could succeed?

So here is the question: can just a few people—those seeking to have monarchs put on the endangered species list and those seeking to launch a grassroots campaign to replant milkweed from coast to coast—succeed in their efforts? We believe that if large enough numbers of people want to see this beautiful butterfly species saved, they will have to speak up and take action. From school children to grandparents, from gardeners to naturalists, from conservation organizations to concerned businesses, if you agree with us, please send messages to your elected officials and government agencies emphasizing the need to protect monarchs as endangered under the ESA. In addition, speak up whenever the ESA is under attack on Capitol Hill (as it often is, thanks to the powerful influence of land developers, resource extraction industries and large-scale farmers and ranchers). Take action by initiating local projects to save monarchs, such as collecting seeds and planting milkweed, or creating a monarch waystation (www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/) near you. What if countless roadsides of America were planted with milkweed to create highways for monarchs on their long annual migration? Wouldn’t that be a sight to behold?

Without a groundswell of support for these beautiful creatures, their survival is in question. Their fate is in our hands.

[Editor’s note: From time to time, Ed Wesely presents programs about monarch butterflies in conjunction with the Delaware Highlands Conservancy. He also has a website at www.butteryflybarn.org.]

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