TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) – The monarch butterfly will have to wait several years more to receive protection under the Endangered Species Act despite its declining population.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will consider the black-and-orange butterfly, once a common sight in backyard gardens, meadows and other landscapes, a “candidate” for designation as threatened or endangered, officials told The Associated Press ahead of an official announcement Tuesday. But there are other species in line ahead of it.
The monarch’s status will be reviewed annually, said Charlie Wooley, head of the agency’s Great Lakes regional office. Emergency action could be taken earlier, but plans now call for proposing to list the monarch 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.
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.