<div dir="ltr"><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 24px;border:0px;font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:26px;vertical-align:baseline"><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/A-federal-bid-to-save-monarch-butterflies-6082235.php">http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/A-federal-bid-to-save-monarch-butterflies-6082235.php</a></p><h1 class="" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:'Sofia Pro Bold';font-size:44px;font-weight:normal;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:44px;vertical-align:baseline">A federal bid to save monarch butterflies</h1><p class="" style="margin:10px 5px 0px 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;font-weight:bold;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:20px;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline-block;width:auto">San Francisco Chronicle</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 24px;border:0px;font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:26px;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:6.25px;line-height:6.25px"> </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:6.25px;line-height:6.25px"></span><br></p><h5 class="" title="2015-02-14T20:31:52Z" style="margin:10px 0px 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:20px;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline-block;width:auto">Published 8:31 pm, Saturday, February 14, 2015</h5><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 24px;border:0px;font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:26px;vertical-align:baseline">A few million dollars, a federal push and a lot of milkweed is the collective answer to a sad wildlife reality. The numbers of orange-and-black monarch butterflies are plunging, and experts have come up with a rescue plan that hinges on public support and an everyday weed.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 24px;border:0px;font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:26px;vertical-align:baseline">In barely 20 years, the numbers of the migrating insect have fallen from 1 billion to just 33 million, according to officials. The startling drop, which environmentalists have been watching for years, is prompting an effort to bring back the monarchs.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 24px;border:0px;font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:26px;vertical-align:baseline">A sum totaling $3.2 million will be spent on conservation fixes and seeds for milkweed plant, which the butterflies use as a nursery, food source and resting spot. Once common, the tufted, colorful plant has been curbed by farms, pesticides and development along the migration routes in the Midwest and California coast. One popular monarch layover is a grove on the Monterey Peninsula where entire tree branches can be coated with resting monarchs, during seasonal trips to Mexico and back.</p><div class="" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:26px;vertical-align:baseline;float:right"></div><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 24px;border:0px;font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:26px;vertical-align:baseline">The plan is to grow enough milkweed to boost the monarch population, a major challenge given its enormous loss in just two decades. A first-step petition to have the butterfly declared an endangered species under federal law is under review. If successful, that declaration could pose major problems for construction projects, farming and other human activities.</p><div id="pmad-02" class="" style="margin:10px 0px 0px;padding:10px 0px;border:0px;font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:26px;vertical-align:baseline;text-align:center"></div><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 24px;border:0px;font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:26px;vertical-align:baseline">Limited as it sounds, the seed strategy is worth a try. The <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/search/?action=search&channel=opinion&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22U.S.+Fish+and+Wildlife+Service%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;color:rgb(93,11,11)">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a> will team with the nonprofit <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/search/?action=search&channel=opinion&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22National+Fish+and+Wildlife+Federation%22" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;text-decoration:none;color:rgb(93,11,11)">National Fish and Wildlife Federation</a> to obtain the money. The plan urges “responsible gardening” to bring weekend dirt diggers into the picture and calls on government agencies to pitch in as well.</p><p style="margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 24px;border:0px;font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;font-stretch:inherit;line-height:26px;vertical-align:baseline">Since the Bay Area is on the monarchs migratory flyway, the plight of the butterflies should be of prime interest. So should another reminder: Another butterfly, the Xerces blue, once native to the San Francisco region, has disappeared, another victim of modern times. It’s a loss that shouldn’t be repeated.</p><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.5pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-align:justify;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font><span style="background:none 0% 0% repeat scroll rgb(255,255,204)">Sunny</span><span> </span>Boyd</font></span></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.5pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-align:justify;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font>Web and Communications Manager<span style="background:none 0% 0% repeat scroll rgb(255,255,204)"></span></font></span></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.5pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-align:justify;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font>Pollinator Partnership</font></span></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.5pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-align:justify;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font>423 Washington Street, 5th Floor</font></span></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.5pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-align:justify;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font>San Francisco, CA 94111</font></span></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.5pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-align:justify;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font>e: <span> </span><a href="mailto:sun@pollinator.org" target="_blank">sun@pollinator.org</a></font></span></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.5pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-align:justify;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font>w:<span> </span><a href="http://www.pollinator.org/" target="_blank">www.pollinator.org</a></font></span></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.5pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px;text-align:justify;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font>p: <a value="+14153621137">415.362.1137 or 415.335.9786<br></a></font></span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div>
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