Voluntary Conservation, Not Regulation, Will Be Key to Monarch Butterfly Recovery

Abstract

ABSTRACTDespite obvious challenges and evidence of recent decline at certain overwintering sites, the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) remains widespread and ubiquitous throughout much of its recorded range within the United States, and adults still migrate in the tens of millions to overwintering sites in México. We share scientific as well as practical concerns with the initiative to list the monarch butterfly under the 1973 Endangered Species Act (as amended) of the United States. We note the existence of large‐scale strategic conservation commitments for this species that are being implemented at state, regional, and international levels, and argue that these strategies should be pursued before invoking the formal regulatory protections of the federal Endangered Species Act. We also note a persistent confusion regarding the units of conservation for migratory monarch butterflies: although multiple migratory populations are often posited based on differences in overwintering sites, multiple lines of evidence indicate that North American migratory monarch butterflies form a single, panmictic population. On a practical level, we note the difficulties inherent in applying provisions of the Endangered Species Act such as restrictions on “take” and the designation of “critical habitat” to a species that remains widespread and ubiquitous across much of North America and many other parts of the world. We encourage the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decline to list the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act at this time. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.