Central Coast congressman wants to spend $155 million to save western monarch butterflies
Just one month after U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal visited a Pismo Beach monarch butterfly grove, the Central Coast congressman helped re-introduce two bills that would set aside millions in funding for the protection and recovery of the rapidly declining western monarch butterfly.
The Monarch Action, Recovery and Conservation of Habitat, or, MONARCH Act, and the Monarch and Pollinator Highway Act were reintroduced by Carbajal (D-24), Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-20) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) to the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, according to a news release. Both bills had been proposed during the previous congressional session, but stalled in the House.
The MONARCH Act would set aside $62.5 million to implement a massive western monarch butterfly conservation plan prepared by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in January 2019, and another $62.5 million for any eligible entities that implement a monarch conservation project
Meanwhile, the Monarch and Pollinator Highway Act would establish a federal grant program available to Native American tribes and state departments of transportation to carry out pollinator-friendly practices on roadways and highway rights-of-way.
The bill would provide $5 million per fiscal year from 2022 to 2028 — a total of $30 million.
“The Pismo (State) Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove in my district traditionally hosts the largest western monarch overwintering population in California, but when I went to visit recently there weren’t any monarchs to be found,” Carbajal said in the release. “The western monarch’s population has dropped by 99% over the last 30 years and, unless we act now, they are on a path to extinction.”
The two bills come after disheartening reports that volunteers counted just 1,914 overwintering western monarch butterflies in California in 2020 during the annual Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation Thanksgiving count.
That’s compared to 29,436 butterflies counted the year before, according to the Xerces Society.
Western monarch butterflies were denied statewide protection after a judge in the Superior Court of Sacramento County ruled in November that the state of California does not have the legal authority to protect insects under the California Endangered Species Act. This means that the monarchs cannot be protected by state law.
Subsequently, in December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service denied the species federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. The agency said that adding monarch butterflies to the list of threatened and endangered species is “warranted but precluded by work on higher-priority listing actions.”
Conservation groups applauded the two monarch butterfly bills on Wednesday.
Scott Black, executive director of the Xerces Society, said in a news release that both bills “would provide a substantial boost in habitat restoration that could be the lifeline monarchs and other pollinators need to survive.”
“Monarch lovers were once able to see millions of butterflies in their overwintering habitat, but now America’s most iconic pollinator is almost gone in the West,” Stephanie Kurose, a senior policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a separate news release. “The MONARCH Act gives these beautiful orange-and-black butterflies a fighting chance at survival. We’re so grateful for the leadership of Sen. Merkley and Reps. Panetta, Carbajal and Davis for recognizing the urgency of the situation.”
Carbajal, a three-term California congressman, won re-election in 2020. He represents California’s 24th congressional district, which encompasses San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties as well as part of northern Ventura County.
How you can help monarch butterflies
Want to help western monarch butterflies?
A team of university researchers and the Xerces Society are studying the species’ migration habits as part of the Western Monarch Mystery Challenge.
When you see a monarch butterfly, take a photo of it and report it through the free iNaturalist app, the Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper at monarchmilkweedmapper.org or by emailling MonarchMystery@wsu.edu . Be sure to include the date and location.
After submitting your photo to the challenge, you will be entered to win a variety of prizes every week that you participate.
The Xerces Society says there are several things people can do to help protect monarch butterflies in their own backyards.
The nonprofit organization suggests the following:
- Adopt an overwintering site and become an advocate for the site’s protection and management.
- Plant native California flowers that bloom in the early spring (February through April) to provide critical food for the monarchs.
- Plant native milkweed including woollypod, California, heartleaf, narrowleaf and showy milkweed plants.
- Seek out non-chemical options to prevent and manage pests in your garden and landscaping. Pesticides, herbicides and insecticides can all kill monarch butterflies.
- Report all monarch adult, catepillar, egg, nectaring and milkweed sightings to the Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper.
- Use the hashtag #SaveWesternMonarchs on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to raise awareness, and add a Save Western Monarchs frame to your Facebook profile picture.
For details, go to xerces.org/western-monarch-call-to-action.
This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 3:12 PM.
