<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">---------- Forwarded message ---------<br>From: <strong class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Robinson, Cal E</strong> <span dir="auto"><<a href="mailto:cal_robinson@fws.gov" target="_blank">cal_robinson@fws.gov</a>></span><br>Date: Tue, Dec 10, 2024 at 11:08 AM<br>Subject: USFWS proposes to list Monarch Butterfly<br>To: Robinson, Cal E <<a href="mailto:cal_robinson@fws.gov" target="_blank">cal_robinson@fws.gov</a>><br></div><br><div>
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<p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline"><span>Dear conservation partner,</span><span> </span></p><p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><span> </span></p><p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><span>Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be announcing a proposal to list the monarch butterfly as a threatened species with species-specific protections and flexibilities to encourage conservation under Section 4(d) of the
Endangered Species Act (ESA). We are also proposing to designate critical habitat at the overwintering grounds in California.</span><span> </span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><span>Under the Endangered Species Act, our agency has flexibilities to tailor protections for threatened species to prevent the further decline of the species and facilitate recovery. Our proposed 4(d) rule incentivizes proactive conservation
efforts and allows actions that have beneficial or minimal impacts to monarchs and that do not threaten the species’ overall population. </span><span> </span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><span>This is a proposed threatened designation for the monarch butterfly, and the monarch butterfly does not have federal protections at this time. Through March 2025, we are gathering input through a 90-day public comment period and
encourage the submission of any new information. We will review these comments and then we will ultimately issue a final rule. If listed, protections would only go into place after the final rule is published. </span><span> </span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><span>The proposal to list the monarch butterfly and designate critical habitat will appear in the Federal Register on December 12, 2024. The entire proposed rule package can be found on <a href="http://regulations.gov" target="_blank">regulations.gov</a> by searching docket number FWS-R3-ES-2024-0137. </span><span> </span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><span>We will be hosting a virtual presentation for stakeholders to go over the proposal and take questions on Friday, December 13, at 3:00pm Eastern (12:00pm Pacific).
</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"><a href="https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_M2U4MDU3ZTktOTU3ZC00ZjMwLWE1YjUtNDY5ZGZiMzYxNTJh%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%220693b5ba-4b18-4d7b-9341-f32f400a5494%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22e4e3d5c6-8d20-481f-b5f3-d326f6854d9f%22%7d" target="_blank"><span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0563c1">Follow
this link to join us.</span></span></a></span><span> </span><span> </span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><span><span style="color:black">For frequently asked questions about this proposal and additional information on the monarch butterfly, visit
</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.fws.gov/monarch" target="_blank"><span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#0563c1">fws.gov/monarch</span></span></a></span><span> </span><span> </span></p><p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><span><br></span></p><p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><span>Thanks for all you do for conservation.</span><span> </span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><br></p><p style="margin:0in;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap;font-kerning:none"><span>Sincerely,</span><span> </span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Cal Robinson</span><span><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Public Affairs Specialist</span><span><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office</span><span><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:cal_robinson@fws.gov" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">cal_robinson@fws.gov</span></a><span><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">(916) 414-6702</span><span><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> </p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline">Kelly Bills </span><span style="background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><font color="#999999"><i>(she/her)</i></font></span></font></p><p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">Executive Director</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><font face="arial, sans-serif">Pollinator Partnership</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><u><a href="mailto:kelly@pollinator.org" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">kelly@pollinator.org</font></a></u><font color="#000000"> | 585.255.0962</font><br></font></span></p><p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><font face="arial, sans-serif">San Francisco, California</font></span></p><p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font face="arial, sans-serif" style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline">hq: </span></font><font color="#000000" face="arial, sans-serif">582 Market Street, Suite 1215, San Francisco, CA 94104</font></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><a href="http://pollinator.org" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">pollinator.org</font></a><font color="#000000"> | 415.362.1137</font></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font color="#000000"><img width="96" height="43" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4zXjuTsHEiWuPBmKQYo_HLJWlUBS34sXhTJvvC5iFoYQ1IaCMB7U0NszfudOKgLjHXj_1zrlRnWv4Ur"><br></font></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><i style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></i></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><i style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><font face="arial, sans-serif" size="1">I respectfully acknowledge that I live and work on the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples who are the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Peninsula.</font></i><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><font color="#000000"><br></font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></span></p><p style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>