The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to decide soon whether to list the monarch butterfly as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act.

The designation could carry major consequences for one of the country's most recognizable insects. Monarchs are split into two colonies on either side of the Rocky Mountains and both eastern and western colonies have shrunk by more than 90%.

Rebeca Quiñonez-Piñón, monarch recovery strategist and climate resilient habitat director for the National Wildlife Federation, said if the monarch is listed, federal rules will be implemented to help monarch colonies.

"The benefit is that the Service can work on tailored rules for the species itself, which can be very specific," Quiñonez-Piñón emphasized. "To target the major needs of the monarch butterfly, to ensure that we can recover and increase the population size."

She pointed out habitat loss, pesticides and climate change are the major drivers of the monarch's decline. Monarch butterflies weigh less than a paper clip and can travel more than 3,000 miles during their migration and an estimated 40% of all monarchs in the eastern colony come from Iowa and other Midwest states.

Along with one of the longest migrations of any species, the monarch has major ecological effects.

Mary Phillips, head of native plant habitat strategy for the federation, said the health of monarch butterfly colonies often indicates the health of other pollinator populations.

"Much of the monarch habitat mirrors our native pollinator habitat as well," Phillips explained. "They're kind of the 'canary in the coal mine,' if you will, that have really flagged the significant effort of habitat loss, climate change and overall ecological ramifications of pesticide use on many of our critical insect species."

Avocado farming is a serious threat to the butterfly's winter habitats in Mexico, where thousands of acres of a monarch reserve have been deforested for avocado production. This has prompted more than two dozen environmental groups to urge the State Department to ban the import of avocados tied to deforestation.

The key to a monarch resurgence is the milkweed plant, which is the only plant monarch caterpillars are able to eat. Phillips suggested planting milkweed is one of the most helpful ways people can get involved in monarch conservation. She added do not forget the adult monarchs, too.

"The milkweed is the absolute essential plant," Phillips stressed. "If you are going to have a monarch garden, you absolutely have to put native milkweed to the area that you're in, and balance that out again with some other three-season-bloom native nectar plants."

More than 1,300 species in the United States are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

The southern Appalachian Mountains, known as the salamander capital of the world, are home to some of the most distinct wildlife in the country but Hurricane Helene's strong winds and flooding have left a trail of destruction across Western North Carolina.

Communities and businesses are working to recover and conservationists are raising concerns about how the storm has affected endangered species.

JJ Apodaca, executive director of the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy, said one species in particular, the hellbender salamander, has suffered greatly.

"Hellbenders are a large aquatic salamander and several of those have been found dead across the region," Apodaca reported. "You can just imagine that something that's two feet long and doesn't really swim that well can't really escape the devastation."

Apodaca described the damage to habitats such as the Hickory Nut Gorge as catastrophic. He noted entire slopes and hillsides of trees have been wiped out, resulting in a complete loss of habitat for many species. While conservationists are still assessing the long-term effects, he stressed the outlook raises serious concerns for the future of the ecosystems.

Dalton George, national grassroots organizer for the Endangered Species Coalition and mayor pro tem of Boone, emphasized the importance of prioritizing wildlife and environmental health during recovery efforts. He pointed to greener infrastructure as a solution, prioritizing designs allowing wildlife to move freely, protecting clean water and managing stormwater effectively. He said the steps are essential to balancing recovery with long-term sustainability.

"With salamanders, with wildlife, here in the Appalachian Mountains, they need those protections now more than ever as we see the impacts of climate change and the extinction crisis happening globally," George asserted.

George highlighted the importance of the Endangered Species Act as a critical tool for preserving wildlife and their habitats. However, the act has faced repeated attacks in Congress. Conservationists say continued public support and advocacy are key to ensuring it remains a strong safeguard for the region's wildlife and ecosystems.


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Environmental advocates in Maryland are celebrating legislation that expands the definitions of wildlife in the state. The law also requires the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to review once every five years whether any new species need to be added to the state list.

Logan Christian, wildlife and habitat specialist with the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, said the expanding definition of wildlife includes invertebrates important in our food system - and other critical functions in our ecosystem.

"Pollinators are really important for biodiversity," Christian explained. "They're responsible for one out of every three bites of food that we take. Having the ability to think about all species -- where are species at and should they be listed -- it's just really important to have wildlife be defined broadly for that purpose."

He pointed out that a species could also be removed from the list, if conservation efforts succeed in increasing its wildlife populations.

The new law also lets private citizens get involved. Any interested person can submit a petition asking the Secretary of Natural Resources to review whether any species should be listed or removed from the Endangered Species Act. Christian said public input in species conservation can provide valuable help to government agencies trying to monitor hundreds of species.

"It allows for states to kind of add capacity by bringing in the public and non-profits and other keepers of knowledge in the state, who might have their finger on the pulse of what's happening with species better just because of the nature of their work or what they do," he continued.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources tracks the status of more than 550 species that are threatened, endangered or in need. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service only lists 39 of those species as threatened or endangered.

Maryland House Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr, who sponsored the bill, said it cements many existing practices in the state, such as including invertebrates in the definition of wildlife. She also emphasizes the Endangered Species Acts has worked well for conservation across the country - and in Maryland.

"The Endangered Species Act really has been a huge success - both the state level laws and the federal laws. We have preserved so much biodiversity in our country over the last 50 years because of this law - and we really should regard this as one of the great environmental protections in our country," she said.

The new policies governing endangered species went into effect July first.


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Conservation groups have sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to stop a logging project in Montana's Garnet Mountains.

Wildlife advocates said the project threatens a migration corridor for grizzly bears and other animals. The Clark Fork Face Project, about 30 minutes east of Missoula, would allow logging on nearly 17,000 acres of land overseen by the BLM.

Mike Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, said the effort would sever vital connectivity corridors for wildlife navigating between the Northern Continental Divide, Greater Yellowstone and Bitterroot ecosystems.

"The Garnet mountains are an important wildlife corridor for carnivores such as grizzly bear, lynx and wolverines," Garrity explained.

Despite the lawsuit, the BLM started logging in the Garnet earlier this week. Garrity noted the Alliance will ask the court for an injunction to stop clear-cutting until the case is decided. The BLM argued the project will improve forest health and reduce hazardous wildfire fuels across a majority of the area.

Garrity countered the Garnet Mountains are geographically critical to the grizzlies, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

"Scientists say for grizzly bears to be recovered, we once again have to have one connected population of grizzly bears in the northern Rockies," Garrity emphasized. "Otherwise, there's a big risk of inbreeding."

Garrity added the conservation groups plan to amend their complaint to also sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its role in the Clark Fork Face Project.