The monarch butterfly, with its striking orange and black markings, has become a beloved species.
But it’s struggling to survive. Last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced an estimated 80% decline in the eastern monarch butterfly population since the 1980s. The western population has declined even more.
However, there was some promising news: The federal agency also proposed possible protection for the species.
Wisconsin falls within the path of what’s called the eastern population of monarchs, which overwinter in the forests of central Mexico.
During their time here, one of the places where people have marveled at the fluttering creatures is the Milwaukee County Grounds in Wauwatosa.
Barb Agnew has been exploring the area’s windy terrain since the 1990s. She realized the property’s high elevation, along with its habitat offering food and shelter, was attracting magnificent waves of monarchs — as many as 5,000 in 2019.
In 2008, Agnew spearheaded the creation of Friends of the Monarch Trail.
“We started with the migration occurring here — beautiful roosts of monarchs — and that’s when we were able to get the public’s attention,” Agnew says.
At the same time, the group was fighting to curb development threatening the wildlife oasis.
While one building after another began consuming land, Agnew was able to preserve some habitat.
“We’ve got 11 acres on one side, and the Department of Transportation allows us access to their easement, which is another approximately 11 acres,” Agnew says.
Volunteers plant and replant native wildflowers and fight back invasives. Agnew says every milkweed and every tree counts.
“What we’ve observed is the two stands of trees that have been protected and cared for still provide the windbreaks and the temperature-moderating factors and everything the monarchs need to rest on a cold night,” Agnew says.
Despite the welcoming habitat, Agnew, like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has observed a distressing decline in the monarch population.
“It used to be we would get a very big group in the middle of September that would spend the cold September nights, and then they would move on. And sometimes we would get a second big group from further north, but it has been just a drip, drip, drip of 5, 10, 12 butterflies a day,” she says.
Agnew says the monarchs’ fate is determined by a variety of factors — loss of habitat over the course of their long migration. There’s also climate change and the impact of chemicals used in farming.
Agnew’s hopeful that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can shift the conservation needle, particularly when it comes to pesticide use.
She’s focused on a widely used chemical called neonicotinoids, which is toxic to pollinators like monarch butterflies.
“They introduced neonicotinoids about 20 years ago, and that is when the major decline started being noticed. And the latest scientific research has stated that it is indeed these neonicotinoids that are driving the very fast decline,” Agnew says.
The chemicals are creating a lot of buzz.
A couple of months ago, 250 people attended Wisconsin’s first Neonicotinoid Forum. Its sponsors included Clean Wisconsin, Trout Unlimited, and the River Alliance of Wisconsin.
The chemical was described as the most widely used insecticide in Wisconsin — in rural and urban settings — and around the globe.
A coalition is growing out of the forum that will share research on water quality and species impacts. Advocates hope together they can increase public awareness and cultivate policy.
And while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s monarch announcement did not mention neonicotinoids specifically, the agency includes “exposure to insecticides” among the threats to the species’ survival.
A spokesperson with a collaborative called Farmers for Monarchs says, “Productive agriculture and monarch conservation can thrive together.”
Barb Agnew considers these signs of hope for the monarch.
“Let’s find something else that’s better and less damaging to nature. We need it, and we can come up with alternatives — there’s just no question. And we have to, we have to come up with a different way,” Agnew says.
Agnew plans to share her thoughts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The agency is asking the public to weigh in and will accept comments until March 12 of next year. It will hold two public hearings in mid-January.
That input will help the service determine whether to list the monarch butterfly.
