Tierra Curry, Center for Biological Diversity, (928) 522-3681
George Kimbrell , Center for Food Safety, (571)-527-8618
Sarina Jepsen, Xerces Society, (971) 244-3727
Monarch Butterfly Moves Toward Endangered Species Act Protection
Feds Issue Initial Positive Finding on Petition Following 90 Percent Decline
WASHINGTON— In response to a petition by the Center for Biological
Diversity, Center for Food Safety, Xerces Society and renowned monarch
scientist Dr. Lincoln Brower, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said today
that Endangered Species Act protection may be warranted for monarch
butterflies. The agency will now conduct a one-year status review on
monarchs, which have declined by 90 percent in the past 20 years.
“The Endangered Species Act is the most powerful tool available to save
monarchs so I’m really happy these amazing butterflies are a step closer to
the protection they so desperately need,” said Tierra Curry, a senior
scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity.
“Our petition is a scientific and legal blueprint for creating the
protection that the monarch so direly needs, and we are gratified that the
agency has now taken this vital first step in a timely fashion,” said George
Kimbrell, Senior Attorney for Center for Food Safety. “We will continue to
do everything we can to ensure monarchs are protected.”
“We are extremely pleased that the federal agency in charge of protecting
our nation’s wildlife has recognized the dire situation of the monarch”,
said Sarina Jepsen, the Xerces Society’s endangered species director.
“Protection as a threatened species will enable extensive monarch habitat
recovery on both public and private lands.”
The butterfly’s dramatic decline is being driven in large part by the
widespread planting of genetically engineered crops in the Midwest, where
most monarchs are born. The vast majority of genetically engineered crops
are made to be resistant to Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, a potent killer of
milkweed, the monarch caterpillar’s only food. The dramatic surge in Roundup
use with Roundup Ready crops has virtually wiped out milkweed plants in
Midwestern corn and soybean fields. In the past 20 years it is estimated
that these once-common iconic orange and black butterflies may have lost
more than 165 million acres of habitat — an area about the size of Texas —
including nearly a third of their summer breeding grounds.
The population has declined from a recorded high of approximately 1 billion
butterflies in the mid-1990s to only 35 million butterflies last winter, the
lowest number ever recorded. The overall population shows a steep and
statistically significant decline of 90 percent over 20 years. In addition
to herbicide use with genetically engineered crops, monarchs are also
threatened by global climate change, drought and heat waves, other
pesticides, urban sprawl and logging on their Mexican wintering grounds.
Scientists have predicted that the monarch’s entire winter range in Mexico
and large parts of its summer range in the states could become unsuitable
due to changing temperatures and increased risk of drought, heat waves and
severe storms.
Monarch butterflies are known for their spectacular multigenerational
migration each year from Mexico to Canada and back. Found throughout the
United States during summer months, in winter most monarchs from east of the
Rockies converge in the mountains of central Mexico, where they form tight
clusters on just a few acres of trees. Most monarchs west of the Rockies
migrate to trees along the California coast to overwinter.
The size of the overwintering population in Mexico is expected to be up this
year due to favorable spring and summer weather, but even with the expected
one-year population increase, the monarch population will only be a fraction
of its historical size.
Monarchs need a very large population size to be resilient to threats from
severe weather events and predation. Nearly half of the overwintering
population in Mexico can be eaten by bird and mammal predators in any single
winter; a single winter storm in 2002 killed an estimated 500 million
monarchs — 14 times the size of the entire current population.
The Fish and Wildlife Service must next issue a “12-month finding” on the
monarch petition that will propose protection under the Endangered Species
Act, reject protection under the Act or add the butterfly to the candidate
waiting list for protection.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation
organization with more than 800,000 members and online activists dedicated
to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Center for Food Safety is a nonprofit, public interest organization with
half a million members nationwide. CFS and its members are dedicated to
protecting public health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful
food production technologies and instead promoting sustainable alternatives.
The Xerces Society is a nonprofit organization that protects wildlife
through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat. Established in
1971, the Society is at the forefront of invertebrate protection worldwide,
harnessing the knowledge of scientists and the enthusiasm of citizens to
implement conservation programs.
