Feds to delay seeking legal protection for monarch butterfly
Source: Associated Press
Feds to delay seeking legal protection for monarch butterfly
By JOHN FLESHER
26 minutes ago
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 waiting for 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. ... The proposal would be followed by another year for public comment and development of a final rule. Listing the monarch would provide a number of legal protections for the butterfly and its habitat.
Scientists estimate the monarch population in the eastern U.S. has fallen about 80% since the mid-1990s, while the drop-off in the western U.S. has been even steeper. ... "We conducted an intensive, thorough review using a rigorous, transparent science-based process and found that the monarch meets listing criteria under the Endangered Species Act," Fish and Wildlife Service Director Aurelia Skipwith said in a statement. "However, before we can propose listing, we must focus resources on our higher-priority listing actions."
The delay will enable scientists to continue monitoring the butterfly's numbers and the effectiveness of what Wooley described as perhaps the most widespread grassroots campaign ever waged to save an imperiled animal. ... Since 2014, when environmental groups petitioned to list the monarch, school groups, garden clubs, government agencies and others around the nation have restored about 5.6 million acres (nearly 2.3 million hectares) of milkweed plants on which monarchs depend, Wooley said. They lay eggs on the leaves, which caterpillars eat, while adults gather nectar from the flowers.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/politics-climate-change-wildlife-gardening-traverse-city-acf918688a623a77931a160e268dbc18
Hat tip, @W7VOA
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Trump Admin Further Guts Endangered Species Act
https://www.joemygod.com/2020/12/trump-admin-further-guts-endangered-species-act/
December 15, 2020 Trump Administration, Wildlife
Burning it all down on the way out:
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/530267-trump-administration-limits-protection-of-habitat-for-endangered
= new reply since forum marked as read
I raised 27 from cats to release as butterflies. This year I saw a few butterflies but didn't find any cats or eggs, although one of my buddies and former co-workers raised a big pile this year. With all that was going on this year, it probably would have been difficult to juggle trying to take care of them and make sure they had enough milkweed to get to chrysalis stage. I had planted some of their "food" milkweed plants that I bought last year, and all came back this year, so it was not for lack of milkweed to attract them, but the oleander aphids were a nuisance.
If anything, it was a PITA dealing with those damn lanternflies too. 
And we can be fined if we don't eradicate it. Pardon my French, but fuck 'em.
I knowingly let Milkweed plants grow wherever they please on my 40 acres, because the Monarchs need it for their existence. Wanna fine me for it? C'mon and get me, I double-dog-dare-you. 
Here are some pics of a Monarch shortly after emerging from its' Chrysalis on my garden's fence. They need time to dry their wings before flying off, and it rested on my hand till it was ready to go.
They are SO beautiful!!! 
