HomeMy WebLinkAbout12.16.20 BOS Correspondence - Email from Caryn Maier U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service RE USFWS Finds ESA Listing for Monarch Butterfly Warranted but Precluded
From:Schuman, Amy
To:Alpert, Bruce;Bennett, Robin;Clerk of the Board;Connelly, Bill;Cook, Holly;Kimmelshue, Tod;Lambert, Steve;
Lucero, Debra;McCracken, Shari;Paulsen, Shaina;Pickett, Andy;Ring, Brian;Ritter, Tami;Rodas, Amalia;
Sweeney, Kathleen;Teeter, Doug
Cc:Hauck, Janna;"Caryn Maier"
Subject:BOS Correspondence - Email from Caryn Maier U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service RE USFWS Finds ESA Listing for
Monarch Butterfly Warranted but Precluded
Date:Wednesday, December 16, 2020 10:36:21 AM
Good morning,
Please see the email correspondence below from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding the
monarch butterfly becoming a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Amy Schuman
Associate Clerk of the Board
Butte County Administration
25 County Center Drive, Suite 200, Oroville, CA 95965
O: 530.552.3300 |D: 530.552.3308 | F: 530.538.7120
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From: Snow, Meghan K <meghan_snow@fws.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2020 12:39 PM
To: Snow, Meghan K <meghan_snow@fws.gov>
Subject: USFWS Finds ESA Listing for Monarch Butterfly Warranted but Precluded
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Dear Interested Party:
After a thorough assessment of the monarch butterfly’s status, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(Service) has found that adding the monarch butterfly to the list of threatened and endangered species is
warranted but precluded by work on higher-priority listing actions. With this decision, the monarch
becomes a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and its status will be reviewed
each year until it is no longer a candidate.
In 2014, the Service received a petition to list the species and published a substantial 90-day finding in
December 2014. In 2016, the agency began an in-depth status assessment, looking at the global
population as well as focusing on monarchs in North America, where 90 percent of the world’s population
occurs.
The Service used the best scientific information to evaluate threats to the monarch, including habitat loss,
climate change and exposure to pesticides, and used a model to create millions of simulations of future
conditions to estimate the risk of extinction.Over the past 20 years, scientists have noted declines in
North American monarchs overwintering in Mexico and California, where these butterflies cluster.
Numbers in the larger eastern population are measured by the size of the area they occupy. At a density
of roughly 8.5 million monarchs per acre, it is estimated that the eastern population fell from about 384
million in 1996 to a low of 14 million in 2013. The population in 2019 was about 60 million. The western
population, located in California, saw a more precipitous decline, from about 1.2 million in 1997 to fewer
than 30,000 in 2019.
While the monarch butterfly will not receive the protections of the ESA at this time, robust conservation
efforts are ongoing across the North American continent to address threats to the monarch and to bolster
milkweed abundance and other habitat needs. The Service remains committed to working with our many
partners on efforts to conserve the monarch and its habitat at the local, regional and national levels.
Additionally, because the monarch is now a candidate species, the Service will review its status each
year to make sure its listing priority is appropriate. The Service intends to propose listing the monarch in
Fiscal Year 2024, if listing is still warranted at that time.
TheSpecies Status Assessment is available hereon the Service'sSave the Monarch webpage. The
finding will be published in the Federal Register on December 17, 2020, and will be available tomorrow in
the Reading Room.
If you would like more information on today's announcement,thenews release can be found here.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Take care,
Meghan
Meghan Snow
Public Affairs Officer
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office
meghan_snow@fws.gov
(916) 414-6671
(916) 539-7494
In an effort to slowthe spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), staff in the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office
haveimplemented an aggressive telework schedule. At this time, we areresponding torequests for information
via emailor phone as often as possibleas we do not have the in-office capacity to supportregularmailservice.
We appreciate your understanding.