The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is spearheading a campaign with two other organizations to save the rapidly disappearing monarch butterfly population; about $3.2 million in initial funding will be provided, much of which will be spent on restoring milkweed plants, the butterflies’ primary food and habitat.
The monarch butterfly population has dropped precipitously from about 1 billion in 1996 to about 30 million across the U.S. today, and wildlife organizations are banding together to try and reverse the decline.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has partnered with the National Wildlife Federation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to reach out to the public and stakeholders about restoring the monarch habitat.
Their habitat, consisting mostly of milkweed plants, has been destroyed or severely degraded across the country due to eradication from herbicides and the loss of prairie land to crop production.
With less milkweed, the monarchs not only lose their homes but
