Who cares about monarch butterflies? Comparing US State Wildlife Action Plans 2015–2025

Abstract

In July 2022, the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the iconic North American monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) as Endangered because of population declines of 91% since 1996. Yet, in the United States, there are no national laws protecting monarchs. In 2020, the US Fish and Wildlife Service determined that monarchs are “warranted” for US Endangered Species listing, although this listing was “precluded” because of lack of agency resources. In the absence of federal laws, individual US state—sub‐national—wildlife agencies play an essential role in monarch conservation. State wildlife agencies document decadal plans for at‐risk species conservation via State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs). We analyzed all 2015–2025 SWAPs to assess and compare state‐level monarch conservation efforts. We found monarch representation in SWAPs varied widely and lacked geographic alignment with actual conservation needs and interstate coordination. For example, in the contiguous United States, 15 states that occupy critical monarch migration corridors omit listing monarchs as a species of conservation need; 10 of these states have critical breeding habitat. This limited attention in critical areas of monarch flyways is troubling. States can improve upcoming 2025–2035 plans by coordinating efforts to conserve monarch habitat across the entire migration corridor.