US: Monarch Butterflies Deserve Protection, but Must Wait in Line 1490wosh.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from 1490wosh.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Trump administration delays endangered species protection for monarch butterfly on the brink of collapse By Sophie Lewis Nature: Migrating monarchs
Trump administration officials announced Tuesday that the beloved monarch butterfly is a candidate for federal designation as a threatened species but will not receive the designation for several years, as there are other priorities.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was asked to protect the butterfly in 2014, with a decision expected this week. However, officials proposed Tuesday listing the monarch under the Endangered Species Act in 2024, delaying several legal protections for the butterfly and its habitat.
Charlie Wooley, head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service s Great Lakes office, said that the species status will be reviewed annually, until it is no longer a candidate.
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) Federal officials on Tuesday declared the monarch butterfly “a candidate” for threatened or endangered status, but said no action would be taken for several years because of the many other species awaiting that designation.
Environmentalists said delaying that long could spell disaster for the beloved black-and-orange butterfly, once a common sight in backyard gardens, meadows and other landscapes now seeing its population dwindling.
The monarch s status will be reviewed annually, said Charlie Wooley, head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service s Great Lakes regional office. Emergency action could be taken earlier, but plans now call for proposing to list the monarch under the Endangered Species Act in 2024 unless its situation improves enough to make the step unnecessary.
For Immediate Release, December 15, 2020
Contact:
Tierra Curry, Center for Biological Diversity, (928) 522-3681, tcurry@biologicaldiversity.org
Monarch Butterflies Put on Waiting List for Endangered Species Act Protection
WASHINGTON The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that protection for monarch butterflies under the Endangered Species Act is warranted but precluded. This puts the imperiled butterfly on a waiting list for listing but confers no protection in the meantime.
The decision was issued in response to a 2014 petition from the Center for Food Safety, Center for Biological Diversity and allies seeking a threatened listing for the iconic pollinators due to drastic population declines and ongoing threats. Today’s finding means the butterfly’s status will be reviewed annually until the Service issues either a listing proposal or denial.