To: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

51,735
of 75,000 signatures

---

Campaign created by Congresswoman Chellie Pingree

---

Facebook

Twitter

Email

The monarch butterfly population has decreased more than 90% over the last 20 years and there is substantial evidence to show that this is due to the application of toxic herbicides sprayed on genetically engineered crops. The monarch butterfly is urgently in need of protection. We urge you to list the monarch butterfly as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.

Why is this important?

In 1996, an estimated 1 billion monarch butterflies migrating to forests in central Mexico covered nearly 50 acres. But in 2013, they only covered the area about the size of a football field. 

Studies show that, due to the widespread spraying of toxic herbicides, made by Monsanto and other agrochemical manufacturers, on fields where genetically engineered crops are grown, the monarch butterfly population has dropped so drastically in the last 20 years that the species on the brink of collapse. But there’s hope to save this iconic black-and-orange butterfly from extinction.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently considering listing monarchs as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) which would secure stronger protections for the butterfly and its habitat. We must act now to convince the agency to protect monarchs before it’s too late. 

Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Protect the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act.

Since the 1990s, the number of Monarch butterflies has decreased an incredible 95%, due in large part to the destruction of its main breeding habitat in the Midwestern Corn Belt. Monarch butterflies exclusively lay their eggs on milkweed, and their caterpillars rely on the plant as their only food source. 

But due to unchecked spraying of highly toxic herbicides manufactured by Monsanto and Dow on genetically engineered crops, milkweed plants have been nearly eradicated in the monarch’s key habitat. By some estimates, monarchs have lost 165 million acres of habitat, an area nearly the size of Texas.

Listing monarchs under the ESA would bring much-needed resources and funding for monarch conservation efforts and allow federal agencies to urgently address the industrial agricultural practices that are causing this problem in the first place. The ever-increasing use of these toxic chemicals imperils not only important pollinators it also threatens many other species, including our own.

Will you join me and add your name to my petition urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the monarch as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act?

Thank you for your support.

References