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<div class=Section1>
<h1><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'>Deal
provides safety net for monarch butterflies<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=byline><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=date><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Thursday,
October 1, 2009<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/10/01/BAD819V4AJ.DTL&o=0&type=printable"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1025"
src="cid:image001.gif@01CA434B.FBB8C940" vspace=1
alt="A radiant monarch butterfly."></span></a><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/10/01/BAD819V4AJ.DTL&o=1&type=printable"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1026"
src="cid:image002.gif@01CA434B.FBB8C940" vspace=1
alt="Trees provide shelter for monarch butterflies on their lo..."></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span
id=articlebody>(09-30) 19:28 PDT </span></font></b></strong>-- Every autumn,
generations of monarch butterflies follow the sun from eastern Canada to
central Mexico, a migratory feat completed on delicate wings 4 inches wide.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Today,
that impressive journey is threatened by excessive logging at its winter
destination in the Sierra Madre Occidental forest - a problem <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State>,
Mexican and environmental officials vowed Wednesday to address at the
Governors' Global Climate Summit 2 in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Los
Angeles</st1:place></st1:City> this week.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
California Environmental Protection Agency and its Mexican equivalent, Natural
Resources of the United Mexican States, signed the agreement with two nonprofit
environmental groups.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The pilot
project will focus on reforestation and forest management, including the use of
carbon-offset cash to help fund the program, officials said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>If a
reforestation and maintenance effort in the region results in more trees
growing than being cut down - a carbon surplus - the Mexican communities would
then get revenue from companies and other groups using more than their share
and paying to offset those carbon deficits, said Gary Gero, president of the
Climate Action Reserve.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The cash
could pay for the program's trees, labor and maintenance, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"It
becomes a little economic development model," Gero said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>It would
be one that helps save the orange- and-black butterflies.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In 2002,
a severe storm in central <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region>
killed an estimated 250 million monarchs in one night, a massacre experts
blamed on the thinned-out forest, which exposed the butterflies to the
elements.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"The
state of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
strongly believes forest protection and restoration activities are vital
strategies in addressing climate change," Cal EPA Secretary Linda Adams,
who is also chair of the Climate Action Reserve, said in a statement.
"Continued endangerment of the monarch butterfly's winter habitat in the <st1:place
w:st="on">Sierra Madre Occidental</st1:place> forests creates detrimental
impacts on both sides of the border."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
Ecolife Foundation is also participating in the agreement.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
Sierra Madre forests are the winter home to as many as 750 million monarch
butterflies, but they also provide revenue and fuel for hundreds of thousands
of people.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The trick
is balancing the environmental and economic needs, officials said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"It
will be essential to involve the local communities and for the communities to
see the immediate health and quality-of-life benefits for their families,"
Bill Toone, director of Ecolife, said in a statement. "These forests not
only serve to support this migratory phenomenon, but serve as an important
watershed for millions of people."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><strong><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>The
basics </span></font></b></strong><o:p></o:p></h3>
<p><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Scientific
name: </span></font></b></strong>Danaus plexippus, which in Greek means sleepy
transformation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Wingspan:
</span></font></b></strong>4 inches<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Weight:</span></font></b></strong>
0.5 ounce<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Life
span:</span></font></b></strong> Four to five weeks, except for the Methuselah
generation, which is born each autumn and survives up to eight months.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Migration:
</span></font></b></strong>Southeast Canada through the <st1:country-region
w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region> to central <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
traveling about 50 miles per day.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Winter
hibernation: </span></font></b></strong>Mid-November through mid-February in
the <st1:place w:st="on">Sierra Madre Occidental</st1:place> forests.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Regional
connection: </span></font></b></strong><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State>
monarch migration stops include <st1:City w:st="on">Fremont</st1:City>'s
Ardenwood Historic Farm and <st1:City w:st="on">Santa Cruz</st1:City>'s <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Natural</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Bridges</st1:PlaceType> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Beach</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Source:
World Wildlife Fund <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=dtlcomment><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>E-mail Jill Tucker at <a href="mailto:jtucker@sfchronicle.com">jtucker@sfchronicle.com</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</span>
<p id=url><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/01/BAD819V4AJ.DTL<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p id=pageno><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>This
article appeared on page <strong><b><font face="Times New Roman">E - 1</font></b></strong>
of the San Francisco Chronicle<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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