{"id":12576,"date":"2020-12-31T17:10:47","date_gmt":"2020-12-31T17:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=12576"},"modified":"2020-12-31T17:10:47","modified_gmt":"2020-12-31T17:10:47","slug":"no-relief-from-feds-for-threatened-monarch-butterfly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=12576","title":{"rendered":"No relief from Feds for threatened monarch butterfly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/gr-72531-1-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/gr-72531-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12551\" srcset=\"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/gr-72531-1-1.jpg 600w, https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/gr-72531-1-1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption><strong><em>The monarch butterfly\u2019s annual migration route parallels Interstate 35, so transportation departments in Texas and other states are prioritizing habitat creation along the freeway.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Photo: GeorgeB2\/Pixabay<br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>By ROZ BROWN<\/strong><br>Texas News Service<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>AUSTIN, Texas \u2013 The monarch butterfly is threatened with extinction, but will not receive federal protection any time soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This week,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fws.gov\/news\/ShowNews.cfm?ref=u.s.-fish-and-wildlife-service-finds-endangered-species-act-listing-for-&amp;_ID=36817\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said<\/a>&nbsp;the monarch meets the criteria for listing, but limited resources mean other species will be listed first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rebeca Quinonez-Pinon \u2013&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nwf.org\/Our-Work\/Wildlife-Conservation\/Monarch-Butterfly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">monarch outreach coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 said in Texas, local communities have been extremely engaged on monarch conservation since 2015, through the agency\u2019s Mayors\u2019 Monarch Pledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnd they have worked on implementing monarch conservation efforts,\u201d said Quinonez-Pinon, \u201cincreasing native habitat and ensuring that everyone does something to help the monarch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In announcing its decision, the Fish and Wildlife Service said the monarch butterfly deserves federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, but must wait in line behind at least some of 161 other species facing imminent threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s estimated there are fewer than 30,000 monarch butterflies remaining in the western U.S. \u2013 after populations dropped more than 97% between 1997 and 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The population decline for the iconic orange-and-black butterfly is due to loss of habitat that includes native milkweed. Quinonez-Pinon said milkweed is the only plant that nurtures monarch caterpillars and is in short supply as a result of herbicides used in commercial agriculture and home gardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnother big problem is climate change,\u201d said Quinonez-Pinon. \u201cClimate change has taken its toll on both the eastern and western populations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to wildlife officials, more than 500 million milkweed stems have been planted in recent years by advocacy groups, concerned Americans and government agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In taking the Monarch Pledge, Texas mayors agreed to plant milkweed in public parks and school gardens, and challenged city neighborhoods to do the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By ROZ BROWNTexas News Service AUSTIN, Texas \u2013 The monarch butterfly is threatened with extinction, but will not receive federal protection any time soon. This week,&nbsp;the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said&nbsp;the monarch meets the criteria for listing, but limited resources mean other species will be listed first. Rebeca Quinonez-Pinon \u2013&nbsp;monarch outreach coordinator for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12576"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12577,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12576\/revisions\/12577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}