Skip to main content
x

Press & Media

Xerces Society staff are respected as reliable sources of science-based advice at the forefront of invertebrate protection, and can provide information and perspective on all aspects of invertebrate conservation.

Our team includes nationally recognized experts on a range of issues, including insect declines, protecting endangered species, climate change impacts, pollinator conservation, pesticide risk, habitat creation, and wildlife gardening. We work to understand and protect insects and other invertebrates in all landscapes, from wildlands to backyards.

In each of the last three years, Xerces staff were quoted or our work was mentioned in thousands of media articles that reached over one billion people worldwide.

We’re happy to give media interviews. Please direct all inquiries to Deborah Seiler, (503) 232-6639 or [email protected]

For general information about our work, please see our blog, publications, and other information on our website. Follow us on social media for the latest updates, as well.


Recent Press Releases

United States Representative Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) and Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) have reintroduced the House version of the bicameral Monarch Action, Recovery, and Conservation of Habitat (MONARCH) Act.  The MONARCH Act would authorize $62.5 million for projects aimed at conserving the western monarch and an additional $62.5 million to implement the Western Monarch Butterfly Conservation Plan, which was prepared by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in January 2019. 
The Eastern migratory monarch butterfly is at risk: new reports show a sharp population decline and a loss of habitat in the forests where they winter each year. In just one year, the presence of monarch butterflies in their wintering grounds dropped 22%, from 7 acres to nearly 5.5 acres. This is part of a mostly downward trend over the past 25 years—when monarchs once covered more than 45 acres of forest.
Nevada’s Assembly Natural Resources Committee will consider a bill today that would give the state’s Department of Wildlife authority to manage pollinators and other insects that need conservation. Insects, including monarch butterflies and other pollinators, are not defined as wildlife under state law, which means the department has no authority to protect them. Assembly Bill 221 would change that by defining “non-pest invertebrate wildlife species of greatest conservation need” as wildlife.
A study published today in the journal PLOS ONE finds that planting the margins of agricultural fields with pollinator-friendly plants and minimizing pesticide use in the Central Valley of California could help pollinators survive in this highly altered landscape. In addition to allowing pollinators to move across the landscape, over 1 million acres of habitat could be added to the Central Valley by restoring drainage ditches, field edges and uncultivated borders.
In the weeks before heavy rains battered the California coast, volunteers grabbed their binoculars and headed out in an annual pilgrimage for a beloved animal. This year, their efforts for the 26th Western Monarch Count paid off with good news: a final tally of 335,479 butterflies during the study’s Thanksgiving counting period.