New Monarch Butterfly Protection Status: Necessary Conservation or

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Earlier this month, United States wildlife officials decided to provide federal protection to monarch butterflies under the Endangered Species Act, which prohibits importing, exporting, possessing, transporting, or killing any animal considered endangered. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service responded by asking for public input through Mar. 12, 2025, and it “will then evaluate the comments and any additional information on the species and determine whether to list the monarch butterfly.”

In a press release, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director Martha Williams said:

The iconic monarch butterfly is cherished across North America, captivating children and adults throughout its fascinating lifecycle. Despite its fragility, it is remarkably resilient, like many things in nature when we just give them a chance. Science shows that the monarch needs that chance, and this proposed listing invites and builds on unprecedented public participation in shaping monarch conservation efforts. Providing monarchs with enough milkweed and nectar plants, even in small areas, can help put them on the road to recovery. Working together, we can help make this extraordinary species a legacy for our children and generations to come.

However, not everyone is so excited about the move, particularly some farmers and ranchers. Most notably, Sid Miller, the commissioner of agriculture for the state of Texas, released his own public statement, slamming the idea as government overreach and part of the Biden administration’s “heavy-handed, radical climate agenda.”

The Biden Administration’s recent proposal to list the Monarch Butterfly as a threatened species is just the latest example of federal government overreach which cripples agriculture and rural development. Don’t be misled. This proposal isn’t about protecting butterflies. It’s about out-of-touch and out-of-control Washington bureaucrats forcing a radical agenda that punishes rural America and the people who call it home.

This designation would slap widespread restrictions on anything that might ‘disturb’ monarch habitat, making it nearly impossible to build or expand in rural areas. We’re not just talking about farmland. This will impact dairies, wind and solar farms, football stadiums, roads, airports, railways, feedlots, rural hospitals, parking lots, logging, and mining — you name it. These restrictions will hit Texas farmers, ranchers, small businesses, and consumers where it hurts, threatening the very industries that drive our state’s and nation’s economies.

This is nothing more than a parting shot from the Biden Administration, a desperate move to impose its heavy-handed, radical climate agenda on hard-working Americans before they leave office and sanity returns to our nation’s capital on January 20th. This is not a balanced approach to conservation; it’s a roadblock to growth, jobs, and prosperity, all in the name of feel-good policies. We deserve better.

Many other agricultural leaders and organizations have acknowledged the importance of protecting the monarch butterfly, but they insist that the government and farmers should continue working together on conservation efforts, and hope there will be some type of compromise next year. According to Successful Farming, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said he looks forward to the Trump administration taking a second look at the decision. “This underscores the importance of the work that Iowa agriculture has been proactively doing to incorporate monarch and pollinator habitat into conservation practices around the state.”

A group called Farmers for Monarchs urges farmers to speak up during the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s public commenting period. “The agriculture community’s ongoing contributions are essential to monarch habitat preservation, and those efforts must continue during this decision process. Additionally, farmers will have an opportunity to participate in the 90-day comment period,” the organization’s press release stated. It also encouraged farmers to continue with voluntary conservation initiatives.

Monarch butterflies are known for their bold orange and black markings, as well as for their distinct migratory practices. In North America, an eastern migratory population overwinters in Central Mexico, while a western migratory population overwinters in California. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the eastern population has declined by 80% since the 1980s, while the western population has declined by 95%, giving the butterfly a 56 to 74% chance of extinction.

According to NPR, conservation groups have attempted to convince government officials to provide the monarch with an “endangered” status for over a decade. Preserving the butterfly’s population has also become something of a DIY project for many private citizens as well. In recent years, people have planted milkweed in their yards and on their farms to attract the butterflies, and have been raising them at home and releasing them into the wild. There are even kits you can buy to help you do this.

Environmentalists say that the reasons behind the population decline include “warmer temperatures brought on by climate change, agricultural expansion and herbicides that have hindered growth of milkweed — the main food source for monarch caterpillars.” Allegedly the warmer temperatures prevent the butterflies from making their journeys south for the winter.

However, a recent study from the University of Georgia suggests that “climate change” and temperature have nothing to do with it, and that the good intentions of private citizens attempting to save the population could be at least part of the problem. UGA researchers found that the summer breeding populations of the monarch butterflies are actually stable and thriving, but the migration process is the real threat behind the population decline.

The study found two reasons for this. First, there has been an uptick in the prevalence of a “debilitating monarch parasite.” According to UGA, “This increase corresponds with increased plantings of nonnative milkweeds throughout the flyway. Many infected monarch caterpillars don’t make it to adulthood. Those that do can’t fly well and don’t live long, possibly contributing to the fallout of butterflies along the migration path. Nonnative milkweeds have longer growing seasons, and as a result these plants may lead to more monarchs becoming infected with the parasite because the infectious parasite spores can build up on their leaves.”

The second reason is the release of butterflies raised in captivity. “All of the evidence we have shows that when monarchs are reared in a captive environment, either indoors or outdoors, they’re not as good at migrating,” said Andy Davis, an assistant research scientist in UGA’s Odum School of Ecology, who authored the study.

Davis concludes that the best way to save the monarch population is, well, to leave them alone. He says you can plant native flowering plants along the migration path if you like, but skip the non-native milkweed and don’t bring the eggs or caterpillars inside. Davis added: “It seems like Mother Nature does a better job at creating really healthy, robust migrators than we do.”

While monarch butterflies are pollinators, they are not considered as important to crops as bees and other insects. However, because of their beauty and appeal, they’ve become something of a “flagship species” to bring attention to the necessity of conservation. A final decision on whether or not to move the butterfly to the list of endangered species isn’t expected until the end of 2025, but it sounds as if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will receive plenty of input from the public.