USFWS Monarch Species Status - December 2020

On December 15, 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced their decision that listing the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act is “warranted but precluded.”  This determination means that the species becomes a candidate under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), but that the USFWS is required to address other, higher priority listing decisions before proposing to list the monarch and give it full protections under the ESA. The USFWS intends to propose listing the monarch in Fiscal Year 2024, if listing is still warranted at that time, and will review its status each year to ensure its listing priority is appropriate. Additional information about the status of the monarch, the listing decision, FAQs, and monarch conservation can be found on the USFWS Monarch Butterfly webpage. The monarch’s current listing priority is based on the many conservation efforts already underway to address threats facing the species. Robust conservation efforts are ongoing across the continent, including partnerships with states, tribes, Canada and Mexico, local communities and conservation organizations, to address threats to the monarch and to bolster milkweed abundance and other habitat needs. As an example, more than 45 energy and transmission companies and state departments of transportation are participating in a formal agreement with the USFWS and voluntarily committing time and funding to carry out monarch-friendly management practices on millions of acres in rights of way. The USFWS encourages proactive conservation efforts to benefit candidate species; these efforts that may result in eliminating their need for listing or speed recovery if they are listed.