Groups seek endangered protection for monarch butterfly; blame Monsanto for population decline

Blaming Monsanto herbicides for the declining population of the monarch butterfly, a coalition of environmental and food-safety groups petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to grant the butterfly endangered species protection, Chuck Raasch reports for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The groups say the species' U.S. population last year fell to 90 percent below its 20-year average, from one billion in the mid-1990s to 35 million last year. (Post-Dispatch photo)

The Center for Biological Diversity, the Center for Food Safety and the Xerces Society said in a joint statement that the “butterfly’s dramatic decline is being driven by the widespread planting of genetically engineered crops in the Midwest where most monarchs are born. The dramatic surge in Roundup use with Roundup Ready crops has virtually wiped out milkweed plants in Midwestern corn and soybean fields.” They said "the monarch is also threatened by climate change, drought and heat waves, urban sprawl and logging on its wintering grounds in Mexico," Raasch writes.

Fish and Wildlife spokesman Gavin Shire "said his agency was required by federal regulations to respond to the petition 'to the extent practicable' within 90 days," Raasch writes. "The agency could decide to extend the review up to an additional nine months before making a decision on the request. The butterfly currently has no special protection designation from the FWS." (Read more)