ESA protection sought for Monarch butterfly

I've been watching and counting Monarchs for decades and have lots of memories of watching them migrating south over the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay (among other locales). I was very fortunate to have found one adult Monarch this summer while walking a nature trail at Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge in northern Vermont (see accompanying photo). The species is in trouble and a group of petitioners (read this article) are asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to grant Endangered Species Act protection to Danaus plexipus. If Dr. Lincoln Brower, who has studied the Monarch since the 1950s, says the species is in trouble then it very much is.