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--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal">Hi folks,</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">The Xerces Society has just released a new guide to managing habitat for monarchs in the western states. The situation facing monarchs in the western states is as drastic as that east of the Rockies, but the land management issues are quite different, hence the need for this report. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>Managing for Monarchs in the West: Best Management Practices for Conserving the Monarch Butterfly and its Habitat</i> provides a detailed look at the conservation and habitat needs for monarchs in the western United States, including breeding, migrating, and overwintering areas. The guidelines review the known effects of frequently used land management practices—grazing, mowing, prescribed fire, and pesticides—on monarchs and lay out best management practices for how to integrate monarch conservation in management decisions.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">The BMPs are based on a comprehensive review of scientific and technical literature, supported by extensive conversations with and survey responses from land managers, biologists, and ranchers.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">You can read more about this report in a blog article, “Managing for Monarchs in the West: A new guide to protecting the monarch butterfly from the Pacific to the Rockies.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://xerces.org/2018/04/30/managing-for-monarchs-in-the-west-a-new-guide-to-protecting-the-monarch-butterfly-from-the-pacific-to-the-rockies/">https://xerces.org/2018/04/30/managing-for-monarchs-in-the-west-a-new-guide-to-protecting-the-monarch-butterfly-from-the-pacific-to-the-rockies/</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">The guidelines themselves can be downloaded for free from our website, at <a href="https://xerces.org/managing-monarchs-in-the-west/">https://xerces.org/managing-monarchs-in-the-west/</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">The essential information on timing of habitat management to minimize harm to monarchs was extracted into a two-page fat sheet that is also available at that URL.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">We will be printing the BMPs, but paper copies won’t be available for a couple of weeks.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Our thanks go to those who provided funding for this project, in particular the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and US Fish and Wildlife Service. Additional support came from Ceres Trust, CS Fund, The Dudley Foundation, The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust, Endangered Species Chocolate, LLC, J.Crew, Justin’s, Madhava Natural Sweeteners, The New-Land Foundation, Inc., San Diego Zoo, Turner Foundation, Inc., White Pine Fund, and Whole Systems Foundation—as well as Xerces Society members.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">I’d also like to give a shout out to individuals who helped with case studies or review, including Lora Haller of USFWS, Rose Lehman of USFS, Beth Waterbury of Idaho DFG, and Cheryl Schultz of WSU–Vancouver.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">I’m a bit slow sharing this news—the guidelines were released on Monday—so sorry if you’ve already read it somewhere else. Thanks!</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Matthew</p></div></body></html>