Hi, I’m Maeve Keefe, 8 year old nature lover and world changer. I want to tell you about an incredible opportunity we have right now until March 12th to help save the Monarch butterfly! We as kids - and even grown ups - often feel like it’s hard to make change in our world but this is something concrete we can do right now to help a beautiful species that we all love. 

Monarch butterflies are an amazing insect that mean a lot to nature lovers like me. They undertake one of the most inspirational migrations in the animal kingdom. They are important to ecosystems across America as pollinators. They are a lovely and iconic species. 

Sadly though, their population numbers have been dramatically declining over the past decades, mostly due to habitat loss and pesticide use. This puts them in a lot of danger as a species and they are currently on a path to extinction if change doesn’t take place. 

We have an incredible opportunity right now because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has proposed to list them under the Endangered Species Act as a threatened species! If this passes, Monarch butterflies will be protected by the U.S. government and some of their most important migration overwintering grounds will be conserved for them. 

What you can do right now to help:

1. Sign my petition. 
Add your name to show our government that you feel it’s important to protect Monarchs too. I’ll send the results to the FWS on March 12th. 

2. Share your opinion directly with the FWS.

The FWS has a comment period open until March 12th. Anyone anywhere can share their thoughts with them on whether or not they think the Monarchs should be listed under the Endangered Species Act as a threatened species. You can add your comment online by going to the link below, or by mailing in a comment by March 12th.

http://www.regulations.gov/document/FWS-R3-ES-2024-0137-0001

Submit by U.S. mail to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R3-ES-2024-0137, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041–3803.

3. Spread the Word! 

Please tell everyone you know about my petition and this opportunity we all have to protect Monarch butterflies. 

For more information about this issue, please visit https://www.fws.gov/initiative/pollinators/save-monarch

Thank you for your time and for following your heart. I hope that together we can make history and save this beautiful species!

Love,

Maeve Keefe

P.S. You can also help the Monarchs in your area by planting milkweed and making sure it is never sprayed with pesticides.