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Feds to Delay Seeking Legal Protection for Monarch Butterfly

Associated Press

   TRAVERSE CITY, MICH. - Federal officials on Tuesday declared the
   monarch butterfly "a candidate" for threatened or endangered status,
   but said no action would be taken for several years because of the many
   other species waiting for that designation.

   Environmentalists said delaying that long could spell disaster for the
   beloved black-and-orange butterfly, once a common sight in backyard
   gardens, meadows and other landscapes now seeing its population
   dwindling.

   The monarch's status will be reviewed annually, said Charlie Wooley,
   head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Great Lakes regional
   office. Emergency action could be taken earlier, but plans now call for
   proposing to list the monarch under the Endangered Species Act in 2024
   unless its situation improves enough to make the step unnecessary.

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