Environmentalists sued the Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday over delays in finalizing Endangered Species Act protections for the monarch butterfly.
Citing an ESA decision deadline that passed in December, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Center for Food Safety joined in the lawsuit that’s intended to lock in a binding date for FWS action.
“Comprehensive protections are urgently needed to ensure a future for these migratory wonders,” said Tierra Curry, the endangered species co-director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Monarchs unite us, and it’s disgraceful that their future is being sacrificed to political nonsense.”
FWS proposed listing the monarch butterfly as a threatened species in December 2024 at the end of the Biden administration. Under the ESA, the proposal triggered a deadline of December last year for a final listing decision on the species.
