Anonymous
Source: Office of Rep. Carbajal
[Last week], Rep. Salud Carbajal, Rep. Jimmy Panetta, and Sen. Jeff Merkley wrote to the Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expressing concern with the recent decision to forego listing the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act and urging substantial investments in monarch conservation efforts so this crucial pollinator does not go extinct before protections are in place.
This monarch butterfly faces growing threats from the loss of milkweed and habitat, global climate change, and disease. The most recent population count for monarch butterflies shows a 99.9% decline in population for monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains, which overwinter in California. Just two decades ago, roughly 1.2 million monarchs overwintered in California. This year, that number is down to 1,914. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service itself estimates that there is a 96-100% probability that the population of western monarch butterflies will collapse within 50 years.
On December 17, 2020 the Service announced that listing the monarch as endangered or threatened was warranted but was precluded by higher priority species. This decision effectively puts the monarch butterfly on a waiting list but denies the species immediate protection. Some species have been on the waiting list for decades and, in fact, 47 species have gone extinct while waiting for their protection to be finalized.
“If the monarch’s precipitous decline continues, the Service must make prompt use of its emergency listing procedure to ensure its survival,” the lawmakers wrote. “To ensure the monarch does not become the 48th species to go extinct while on the candidate list, we urge the Service to make substantial investments in bold conservation actions that not only prevent the butterfly from further decline but also ensure long-term population stability.”
The letter garnered support from 43 conservation organizations, including the Center for Biological Diversity.
“We’re so grateful for the leadership of Reps. Carbajal and Panetta and Senator Merkley, who recognize that time is running out for America’s most iconic butterfly,” said Stephanie Kurose, a senior policy specialist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Monarchs can no longer afford inaction. Without emergency help, these beautiful orange and black butterflies are on a sure path toward extinction. We need to be doing everything we can to save them and fight the extinction crisis. This letter to the Fish and Wildlife Service recognizes that urgency.”
Full text of the letter can be found here.
Groups who have endorsed the letter:
Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Welfare Institute, Asheville Alternatives to Pesticides, Beyond Pesticides, Born Free USA, Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, Conservation Council For Hawaii, Conservation Northwest, Earthjustice, Endangered Species Coalition, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin, Environmental Center of San Diego, Environmental Protection Information Center, Friends of the Earth, Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf & Wildlife, Gaviota Coast Conservancy, Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance, Heartwood, International Marine, Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute, Juniata Valley Audubon Society, Kansas Rural Center, Klamath Forest Alliance, LEAD for Pollinators, Inc., Maine Audubon, Maryland Pesticide Education Network, Mass Audubon, Natural Resources Defense Council, New Hampshire Audubon, Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides, NY4WHALES, Oceanic Preservation Society, Pelican Island Audubon Society, Pesticide Action Network, Resource Renewal Institute, Save Our Allegheny Ridges, Toxic Free North Carolina, Turtle Island Restoration Network, UNI Center for Energy & Environmental Education, Western Watersheds Project, Wild Farm Alliance, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
Rep. Salud Carbajal represents California’s 24th congressional district, encompassing Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and part of Ventura County.
LOL! Time well spent Saluid… Meanwhile, kids are not in classrooms, local businesses are disappearing and the vagrants and criminals get free reign in your District…. but, oh those butterfly’s!
You’ve not heard of the Butterfly Effect? According to Wikipedia, “In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state.” See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect . Lose the butterfly and humankind is lost, amigo.
I never saw Salud do anything until the election now that the elections over butterflies!!!!!! are you kidding me??? in these times -he should be paying us -us not paying him
I care about the butterflys! That’s why Salud needs to focus his efforts on driving the homeless out of areas surrounding the Goleta Butterfly Grove if he really means what he says. There are numerous homeless encampments in that area and the smoke/haze from their warming/cooking fires are killing our butterflys. (1)
It appears that none of the environmental groups that endorsed this letter read Nature, or related scientific journals, as there are 72 references in the cited paper that contain similar conclusions. Combined with the well-publicized homeless situation, the proximity of the camps to our natural open spaces and the wildfires that result from these illegal activities, it’s disappointing that these environmental groups aren’t demanding more action from politicians when it comes to protecting the ecosystem from being irreparably damaged by the homeless.
(1) Tan, Y.Q., Dion, E. & Monteiro, A. Haze smoke impacts survival and development of butterflies. Sci Rep 8, 15667 (2018)” https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-34043-0
Meanwhile, the elderly continue to die in nursing homes, double murders are becoming a weekly occurrence, businesses gone forever, teachers committing sexual assault and remain on the payroll but BUTTERFLIES! No wonder California is a failed state and is the laughingstock of the world.
Advertise the butterfly grove and people will come. Then the butterflies will leave!
U elect someone with very little education and no accomplishments – what do u expect. Salud is a complete loser.
OOPS – dude, that is so tired and debunked. All you cons do is complain whenever a liberal leader takes something on that “how dare they when we have other issues as well!” Get over it man, most adults are capable of handling more than one task on a given day.
Like your honesty and passion @ LAKERGIRL. lol
He sees only what he wants to see. Data that aren’t conformal are rejected.
Salud isnt the main loser here! Id start with the developers and corporations and your consumption as a people that you can Thank; When we kids the Eucalyptus groves were everywher in SB now just concrete, asphalt parking lots and new housing developments, and its happening, everywhere…Tear the trees out and put in luxury tract homes or another China store….i.e Goleta….What a joke….When i was kid growing up buuterflies would land on us playing outside, kids see a butterfly and they become overly excited and it shouldnt be this way. The Polarization of a kids experience today? Hopefully Salud will spend the ,money wisely!!!
Worldwide loss of habitat is contributing to the Monarch Butterflies race towards extinction, along with pesticide use, drought/climate change. A toxic mix, created by humankind. (and yes, I am part of that)
I haven’t seen a Monarch Butterfly out at the Ellwood preserve in over a year. Photographing them was an annual ritual I really looked forward to. I keep hoping they’ve moved on to another, more habitable location on the globe, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The only Monarchs I’ve seen have been on milkweed plants in my own yard.