An iconic butterfly that waits out the cold months along the California coast each year may soon get added protections.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing the monarch butterfly as a threatened species, under the federal Endangered Species Act. The insect’s numbers are just a fraction of population estimates in the 1980s and experts say the species could be at risk of extinction.
Martha Williams, director of the federal agency, called monarchs “remarkably” resilient.
“Providing monarchs with enough milkweed and nectar plants, even in small areas, can help put them on the road to recovery,” she said in a statement released Tuesday.
The agency also proposed designating habitat — nearly 4,400 acres — as critical for the butterfly’s survival at overwintering sites from Alameda to Ventura counties.
It is expected to publish the proposal in the Federal Register on Thursday, but the butterfly will not garner protections immediately. Officials have a year to consider public comments and any new information before making a final determination.
Where do you find monarch butterflies?
The agency faced a court-ordered deadline to submit findings on the butterfly’s status. Four years ago, the agency reported such a listing was warranted but precluded because of higher priorities. That year, the count of monarchs in western states dipped so low that experts worried the population may be on the brink of extinction.
The western monarchs head to California’s coast each October, finding stands of trees to help protect them from winter conditions. When temperatures warm up, they head east, migrating across the western U.S.
The butterflies lay eggs on milkweed plants and one generation of monarchs dies as a new one grows into caterpillars and eventually become butterflies. They then head to the next spot and repeat the cycle. Three or four generations later, the monarchs show up at the same spots along the coast to wait out another winter.
Because the monarch cycles through multiple generations in a year, the species can increase its population in a short timeframe if conditions are right, scientists say. As long as the numbers don’t dip too low, the population size can bounce around and be OK.
But if it drops too low, the butterfly could bounce down to extinction.
Why do scientists say monarchs are threatened?
After 2020, some worried no monarchs would show up the following winter. Instead, the numbers rebounded. The next year’s tally totaled nearly 250,000 of the butterflies, up from just 2,000.
Since the 1980s, however, the western migratory population has plummeted by more than 95%, a decline scientists attribute to habitat loss and degradation, pesticide use and a warming climate. Meanwhile, the eastern migratory population is estimated to have declined by roughly 80%, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Recent counts from monarch overwintering sites in Mexico and California have been extremely low, said Sarina Jepsen, endangered species program director at the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, one of several groups that submitted a petition to list the butterfly.
The Xerces Society organizes an annual three-week western monarch count and other smaller surveys. Sites that used to host tens of thousands of monarchs now have just a few butterflies, Jepsen said.
Once the proposed listing publishes Thursday, the public can submit comments through March 12. More information is expected to be available at regulations.gov by searching the docket number FWS-R3-ES-2024-0137.
Cheri Carlson covers the environment and county government for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0260.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Feds propose listing monarch butterfly as threatened species