New protections could help save declining monarch butterflies

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to list monarch butterflies as threatened.

By Mike Lynch

A popular butterfly that summers in the Adirondacks may get new protections in 2025 in New York and nationwide. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday that it has proposed to list monarch butterflies as threatened under the Endangered Species Act due to declining populations.

If adopted, the state Department of Environmental Conservation would also list the insect similarly, as it is required by state law. 

The listing would make it illegal to intentionally kill monarchs, but it would allow people to continue to interact with the butterflies. People would still be permitted to collect caterpillars and raise them in their homes, botanical gardens, schools and businesses as long as they don’t take more than 250. The same goes for organizations and people who tag them for tracking purposes. 

“The iconic monarch butterfly is cherished across North America, captivating children and adults throughout its fascinating life cycle. Despite its fragility, it is remarkably resilient, like many things in nature when we just give them a chance,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams. “Science shows that the monarch needs that chance, and this proposed listing invites and builds on unprecedented public participation in shaping monarch conservation efforts.”

Williams said milkweed and nectar plants, even in small areas, can help put monarchs “on the road to recovery.”

The ruling aims to increase the amount of such plants, protect overwintering habitat, minimize impacts of insecticides and pesticides to monarch habitat and maintain the public support of the butterfly, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

Monarchs arrive in the Adirondacks as temperatures warm in the spring after completing a journey that starts thousands of miles away in Mexico, where they spend the winter. It takes several generations of butterflies to reach northern New York, but a single butterfly, called the super generation, makes the southern migration in the late summer, early fall. 

It’s common practice for nature centers and schools to raise the butterflies and teach elementary students about their life cycle. 

“They’re probably one of the first wildlife species that kids recognize,” said Justin Levine, senior communications specialist with the Adirondack Council, “and the journey they take across thousands of miles and multiple generations is just incredible and inspiring. So it’s great to have additional protections for these beautiful butterflies.”

Dan Jenkins, lives outside Tupper Lake, and tags monarchs every summer to track them on their journey to Mexico. He said the number of butterflies he’s seen has decreased over the years. He hopes the listing “raises people’s attention to the parts of the natural world that we don’t think about very much: insects.”

In addition to raising awareness of monarchs, the listing will put more emphasis on the butterfly’s habitat and favorite plant. Milkweed is the only plant monarch’s lay eggs upon, the only food for its caterpillars.  

Under the proposal, people will still be able to maintain milkweed gardens and even remove plants from their properties, “so long as these activities do not result in conversion of native or naturalized grassland, shrubland or forested habitat,” according to the proposal.  

“Our goal is to substantially increase breeding and migratory habitat through voluntary efforts by encouraging land management and gardening practices that have a net benefit for monarchs,” states the proposal. “We expect localized removal of milkweed and nectar plants will be outweighed by an overall addition of these resources across the landscape, making broadscale public support for monarch conservation vitally important.”   

Monarchs are broken up into western and eastern populations based on their migration routes. The population has declined by about 80 percent in the East in recent decades and 95% in the West, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

The probability of extinction for the eastern population ranges from 56% to 74% by 2080, while the probability is greater than 99% for the western insects during that same time period. 

A number of factors have led to declining populations, including the loss and degradation of habitat, exposure to insecticides, and effects of climate change, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The increase of severe storms and droughts can impact both the butterflies and their habitat. 

“It’s one of the most recognizable wildlife species across North America, and to see declines of 80% or so is really troubling,” Levine said. “So it’s unfortunate that they have to be listed, but it’s a good decision by the Fish and Wildlife Service.”

A 90-day public comment period on the proposal began on Dec. 12.