Butterflies, Modern Agriculture Can Coexist, Wildlife Service Director Tells Appropriators

摘要

Modern agriculture can be compatible with the survival of the monarch butterfly, the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told congressional appropriators March 17. The plight of the monarch butterfly, declining in numbers in the Midwest, raises the prospect of an Endangered Species Act listing that could pose problems for agriculture and chemical makers in particular. The decline is being driven by the fact that people are very good at controlling weeds, including the milkweed essential to the survival of the monarch, FWS Director Dan Ashe told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies. Ashe did not suggest barring herbicides but rather that weed control can be done with greater care, in coordination with restoring and protecting habitat for the butterflies in voluntary programs.