The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to add the monarch butterfly to a list of threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The agency says the move will bolster protection for the species and encourage its recovery.
If you live in Arizona, you’ve probably seen images of the striking orange-and-black-winged monarchs flying by the thousands en route to their winter homes in California and Mexico. It’s the only butterfly species that makes a two-way migration just like birds — with some coming from as far north as Canada.
But, environmental groups have long warned that their numbers are shrinking due to climate change. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates the butterfly’s Western and Eastern populations have declined by as much as 95% since the 1980s.
The agency says adding the butterfly to the list of threatened species will afford it federal protections and ramped up conservation efforts. Public comment on the rule is open until March.
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The new agreement means less water for Mexico, but provides stability to those who use the Colorado River near its delta. -
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights called for Mexico and the mining company Grupo México’s to make good on promises to the community more than a decade after the historic spill. -
The letter comes after an August roundup in northwest Colorado, where the BLM gathered 894 wild horses. Nine died in the operation. -
In the Sonoran Sky Islands region, one organization is working to bring back native species. But it’s running up against a lengthening border wall. -
Giant sequoias only grow naturally in California today. But they once ranged as far east as Colorado, Wyoming and Nevada, before the climate turned drier and pushed them into their current, narrower range.
