Senator Amy Klobuchar
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is calling for action to pre-serve the monarch butterfly, whose population has dropped by 90 percent since the 1990s.
Klobuchar sent a bipartisan letter with Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) urging the administration to pursue public-private partnerships to help save the monarch.
She recently joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for an event announcing the agency’s new preservation efforts.
In a letter to the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Transportation, Klobuchar and Collins highlighted the need to build on existing efforts to preserve the butterfly by launching new partnerships that will help stop its decline. Specifically, the senators proposed new public-private partnerships including planting milkweed in electric utility rights of way, which would not only benefit migrating monarch butterflies but could also reduce costs or utility companies for vegetation management.
Klobuchar also attended an event today with USFWS, where the agency announced a cooperative agreement with the National Wildlife Federation on projects to promote monarch butterfly habitat and a new initiative with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation that will leverage public-private partnerships to strengthen conservation projects.
“From school yards to back yards, everyone can play a part in helping preserve the monarch butterfly by planting milkweed in their communities,” Klobuchar said.
“With the butterfly rapidly disappearing, I am pleased to see the Fish and Wildlife Service taking positive steps to reverse its decline. But we all must do more. It will take all hands on deck to protect the butterfly from extinction, and I will continue to call on public agencies, the private sector and American citizens to join together in the effort to protect the monarch butterfly.”
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