My thoughts are awfully hard to put into typed words. I thought my posts were numbered, but I couldn’t stand to wait for the new findings on the monarch butterfly population and migration to come out. I wanted to be a part of it.
At long last, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is doing something about it. I hope it’s not too late.
Species Status with Section 4(d) Rule for Monarch Butterfly and Designation of Critical Habitat
The eastern migratory population of monarch butterflies is estimated to have declined by approximately 80 percent, and the western migratory population has declined by more than 95 percent.
The proposal to list the monarch butterfly, and designate critical habitat, was published in the Federal Register on December 12, 2024. A 90-day comment period will close on March 12, 2025. Information on submitting comments can be found at regulations.gov or by searching for docket number FWS-R3-ES-2024-0137. This docket also includes information about this listing proposal.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the only agency in the federal government whose primary responsibility is the conservation and management of fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats throughout the United States. You can read about the status of the monarch butterfly here.
Letter to USFWS on ESA for the Listing of the Monarch Butterflies from Xerces Society.
Go to Regulations.gov and let the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service know what you think. And make sure Congress knows how you feel about supporting the monarch butterflies.
You may submit comments by one of the following methods:
(1) Electronically: Go to the Federal eRulemaking portal: https://www.regulations.gov. In the Search box, enter FWS–R3–ES–2024–0137, which is the docket number for this rulemaking. Then, click on the Search button. On the resulting page, in the panel on the left side of the screen, under the Document Type heading, check the Proposed Rule box to locate this document. You may submit a comment by clicking on ‘‘Comment.’’
(2) By hard copy: Submit by U.S. mail to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS–R3–ES–2024–0137, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041–3803.
The featured image for this blog post (the image that appears for this blog post on the Home page of this website) is of a monarch butterfly ovipositing on common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) ) and is courtesy of Candy Sarikonda.
Thanks for being my editor Chris Nelson!
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