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Legislation introduced into the Senate and House today will bring much needed funding for conservation projects.

 

Media Contacts

Scott Black, Executive Director, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
(503) 449-3792  |  [email protected]

Sara Hottman, State Communications Director, Office of U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley
(503) 326-3386  |  [email protected]


PORTLAND, Ore.; Wednesday, March 17, 2021---Two new bills intended to bring much-needed funding for conservation efforts for the monarch butterfly are being introduced into Congress today. Together, the Monarch Action, Recovery, and Conservation of Habitat Act and the Monarch and Pollinator Highway Act will provide millions of dollars to support conservation projects.

Both pieces of legislation are being introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Representatives Jimmy Panetta and Salud Carbajal of California as well as other co-sponsors. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation supports both bills and thanks Sen. Merkley and Reps. Panetta and Carbajal for their hard work and leadership on this issue.

“The monarch migration in the western US is on the verge of collapse and monarchs in the east have severely declined,” said Scott Black, Executive Director of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.  “The Monarch Act and the Monarch and Pollinator Highway Act would provide a substantial boost in habitat restoration that could be the lifeline monarchs and other pollinators need to survive.”  

The Monarch Action, Recovery, and Conservation of Habitat (MONARCH) Act authorizes the appropriation of $12.5 million per year for the next five years to the Western Monarch Butterfly Rescue Fund to provide grants for conservation projects and $12.5 million per year for the next five years to facilitate the implementation of the Western Monarch Butterfly Conservation Plan prepared by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. This funding will support projects to restore, enhance, and manage the western monarch’s overwintering and breeding habitats to aid the recovery of wild monarch populations in the western United States.

The Monarch and Pollinator Highway (MPH) Act would provide $5 million for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2028 for grants to benefit pollinators on roadsides and highway rights-of-way, including the planting and seeding of native, locally appropriate grasses and wildflowers, and incorporating the monarch butterfly’s host plant, milkweed.

In the west, the monarch migration is on the verge of disappearing—the migratory population has plummeted by 99.9 percent to fewer than 2,000 butterflies—and the eastern population may not be far behind. The monarch population east of the Rocky Mountains numbered in the hundreds of millions in the 1990s, but has declined by over 80 percent, and studies at overwintering sites in Mexico this winter show that it continues to decline.

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The following organizations have signed a letter of support for the Monarch Action, Recovery, and Conservation of Habitat Act, or MONARCH Act, of 2021.

Aerulean Plant Identification Systems Inc., American Public Gardens Association, Azul, Blank Park Zoo, California Association of Resource Conservation Districts, Center for Biological Diversity, Corazon Latino, Defenders of Wildlife, Durham Bee City USA, Earth Discovery Institute, The FREED Peoples, Friends of the Earth, Grayson Neighborhood Council, Great Northern Farm LLC, GreenLatinos, Hispanic Access Foundation, Houston Wilderness, Kansas Rural Center, Monarch Alert, National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association, Natural Resources Defense Council, Naturedigger, LLC, Oregon Zoo, Organic Consumers Association, Pennies for Monarchs, People and Pollinators Action Network, Point Reyes National Seashore Association, Pollinator Friendly Alliance, Pollinator Palace, Pollinator Posse, River Partners, San Diego Zoo Global, Toxic Free North Carolina, Utah Monarch Advocates, Valley Improvement Projects, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

The following organizations have signed a letter of support for the Monarch and Pollinator Highway (MPH) Act of 2021.

Aerulean Plant Identification Systems Inc., American Public Gardens Association, Azul, Blank Park Zoo, California Association of Resource Conservation Districts, Center for Biological Diversity, Corazon Latino, Earth Discovery Institute, The FREED Peoples, Friends of the Earth, Grayson Neighborhood Council, GreenLatinos, GT Butterfly House & Bug Zoo, Hispanic Access Foundation, Houston Wilderness, Kansas Rural Center, Monarch Alert, National Latino Farmers & Ranchers Trade Association, Oregon Zoo, Organic Consumers Association, Pennies for Monarchs, People and Pollinators Action Network, Pollinator Friendly Alliance, River Partners, Toxic Free North Carolina, Utah Monarch Advocates, Valley Improvement Projects, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

 

ABOUT THE XERCES SOCIETY FOR INVERTEBRATE CONSERVATION

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation protects the natural world by conserving invertebrates and their habitat. Established in 1971, the Society is a trusted source for science-based information and advice and plays a leading role in protecting pollinators and many other invertebrates. Our team draws together experts from the fields of habitat restoration, entomology, plant ecology, education, community engagement, pesticides, farming and conservation biology with a single passion: Protecting the life that sustains us. To learn more, visit xerces.org or follow us @xercessociety on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.