Government has three years to rule on ESA protection for monarch butterfly

Government has three years to rule on ESA protection for monarch butterfly Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc. By Bill Tomson The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed Tuesday to render a decision by June 30, 2019, on whether or not to protect the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Claiming that milkweed - the only food source for monarch caterpillars - is being destroyed by farmers who use Monsanto's Roundup herbicide on their crops, the Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety filed a petition in August 2014, for federal protection. After an initial review of the petition, the Fish and Wildlife Service concluded four months later that protection under the Endangered Species Act “may be warranted