A Letter from Karen Oberhauser
December 10, 2024
Dear Journey North and Monarch Larva Monitoring Project communities,
Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced its decision on whether to give monarchs protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). After careful consideration, they have determined that monarchs are threatened; that is, they are likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future through a significant portion of their range.
This follows a decade-long process that is summarized by Monarch Joint Venture. The original petition that started this process was submitted by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Center for Food Safety and the late Dr. Lincoln Brower, a long-time monarch researcher.
It is important to note the process is not complete; as with any ESA decision, there will be a public comment period of about 90 days, opening Dec. 12 and closing on March 12, 2025, followed by a review of the 4(d) rule by the USFWS. The 4(d) rule will lay out protective regulations that should be followed to conserve monarchs. We will provide future updates on the proposed 4(d) regulations.
Following a significant decline in monarch numbers across their migratory cycle, multiple scientific analyses have shown that populations are not at a safe level that buffers them against the kind of catastrophic events that have occurred in the past. These events include extreme weather conditions that result in the mortality of a large portion of the population.
The ESA is a powerful tool for preventing extinction. It results in legal protection and resources to support conservation work in the United States that wouldn’t otherwise happen, and the ESA has been credited with preventing extinction for 99% of the species that have been listed. For monarchs, this decision will protect monarch wintering habitat in coastal California, allow federal agencies to consider monarchs when making land management decisions, and support monarch habitat nationwide.
The voluntary efforts that we are collectively carrying out are important, and are probably the reason that monarchs are not doing worse than they are. Despite ongoing habitat loss and threats from weather and pesticides, monarch numbers have been relatively stable for the past decade. While there is a great deal of year-to-year variation, the downward trend seen earlier in this century has not continued.
The ESA gives the USFWS flexibility to create a 4(d) rule that will work for the public, including farmers and landowners, and for monarchs. It could include incentives for conservation practices as well as exceptions for activities that lead to habitat loss as long as they are balanced with conservation actions. People will still be able to handle, study, and raise monarchs on a small scale, such as the numbers reared by some Monarch Larva Monitoring Project volunteers in our survival study, although it is likely that large-scale and commercial rearing will be prevented since this level of rearing raises risks for monarchs.
While the ESA applies only to conservation within the United States, actions that we take in this country have a direct impact on the number of monarchs that migrate to Mexico each year. Thank you for your efforts to help us better understand monarchs!
Karen Oberhauser
Monarch biologist
Retired UW–Madison Arboretum director
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To read more about this decision: