Latest news about the monarchs’ welfare in California….

This winter’s Western Monarch Count found just 9,119 monarchs at overwintering sites along the West coast. This is the second-lowest number recorded since the count began in 1997.

In response to a drastic 90% population decline nationally, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is proposing to list monarch butterflies as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

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Historic Agreement on Cattle Ranching and Wildlife Management at Point Reyes National Seashore…

In January, three groups reached a private settlement to retire 11 of the existing 12 dairy and cattle operations at the Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS). The parties to the agreement included the National Park Service , three environmental groups (Resource Renewal Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, and Western Watersheds Project), and more than a dozen dairy and cattle ranchers. Negotiations were mediated by The Nature Conservancy.

The settlement effectively ends all dairying and some beef operations on the PRNS. The 11 ranches will cease operations within 15 months. Twenty-year leases have been issued to nine beef ranch families, seven in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and two in the PRNS.

The vacated lease areas will be managed through a cooperative agreement between the Nature Conservancy and the National Park Service, and will include targeted grazing as part of land management efforts.

A controversial aspect of the agreement pertains to its effects on farmworkers and tenants living in the PRNS area. While some funding has been secured to support employment and housing options for these residents and workers, additional fundraising is necessary to ensure equitable assistance.

To read more about this historic agreement, check out articles by The Nature Conservancy, the National Park Service, and MALT.