Beautiful monarch butterflies, a brutish-looking salamander and some buoyantly named freshwater mussels shared the Endangered Species Act spotlight Thursday, each with potentially wide-ranging consequences.
The Fish and Wildlife Service announced it will propose designating nearly 4,000 river miles of critical habitat for the rayed bean, sheepnose, snuffbox and spectaclecase mussels. In a separate move, the agency said it will seek ESA protections for the eastern hellbender, a creature dubbed the “snot otter” that once inhabited some 17 states.
Most notably, the FWS officially launched the 90-day public comment period for a new proposal to list the monarch butterfly as threatened. How this proposal will be pursued could confront the incoming Trump administration with one of its biggest ESA decisions, and the stakes have already been raised.
“Our monarchs are in grave danger,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), adding that “listing the species as threatened is a step in the right direction to save not just the iconic western monarch, but all monarchs.”
