It was about a decade ago at a farmer meeting when I first heard the idea that the monarch butterfly could be listed as an endangered or threatened species.

About that time, a large agricultural corporation started a promotional program where it would send milkweed plants to the public to plant in their gardens for butterfly habitat. One of those plants found its way into my front flowerbed. And every year I’d watch it carefully for any sign of a monarch visitor setting up shop.

It felt good to do my part. I called it my own “butterfly effect.” You know, maybe doing this one act had cascading consequences somewhere else I’d never know? But slowly the noise around the monarch died down, replaced by other issues of the day. Maybe the issue was shelved, I thought.

Then came the email Dec. 11, detailing how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was bringing up the proposal again. And suddenly the issue was beating its wings again.

Look at the monarch’s migratory path, and it is a map of the most productive farmland in the U.S., right over the middle of the country along the Interstate 35 corridor. In the past decade or so, many farmers have done their part and then some in working to help the monarch butterfly and other pollinators.

I’ve interviewed many farmers who talk about planting edges of the field, waterways and other nonproducing lands to species that pollinators can use. They’re much more cognizant about the role butterflies and pollinators play in the grand ecosystem. They don’t want to see this colorful visitor die off any more than the nonfarming public does.

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So, why is USFWS doing this? Well, according to its news release, there are two long-distance migratory populations. The eastern population, the largest and the one that we’re familiar with along I-35, overwinters in the mountains of central Mexico. It’s one of the longest insect migrations in the world. The western population overwinters in coastal California.

The eastern population has declined by about 80% from its mid-1990s population of about 380 million. And the western population has dropped by more than 95% from its 1980s figure of about 4.5 million.

Under the Endangered Species Act, there is a special rule, known as a 4(d) rule, which allows flexibility to design a suite of appropriate, effective protections for the monarch butterfly. In addition to the 90-day comment period that started Dec. 12, the process includes public hearings and other opportunities for engagement. Importantly, any decision is required by law to be based on the best available science and commercial data, including data regarding conservation efforts already in use.

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In simple terms, the 4(d) rule can balance conservation efforts with economic effects, according to the Farmers for Monarchs organization. But public comment is critical to shaping that policy.

According to USFWS, the stated goal for agriculture is to encourage voluntary conservation measures. On its own website, fws.gov/initiative/pollinators/monarchs/agriculture: “That means that activities that may maintain, enhance, remove or establish milkweed and nectar plants within the breeding and migratory range would be allowed in many circumstances. As long as these activities do not result in conversion of native or naturalized grassland, shrubland or forested habitat, they likely can occur as normal. We are encouraging active habitat management that supports monarchs while ensuring landowners have the flexibility to manage land for other uses, like farming and grazing.”

Already, there are several farm and ranch organizations trying to get the word out to their members to not only continue the conservation work they’re currently doing on their operations, but also to make their voices heard during the comment period. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the Public Lands Council, the American Soybean Association and more are raising the call.

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Read the proposed rule details and documents and submit comments at www.regulations.gov, and search under docket number “FWS-R3-ES-2024-0137.” Be sure to contact your commodity or farmer-led organization to share the tactics you may be employing on your farm to help monarch butterflies and to keep up on their efforts on your behalf.

Although it looks like most of the emphasis of this proposed rule is on conserving the overwintering habitat of the western population in California, it doesn’t mean that farmers in the I-35 corridor are completely in the clear either. This could be a case where the butterfly flapping its wings in one region of the country can make great changes in other parts of the country.

And that’s a butterfly effect we can’t afford.