Officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were at Camp Pendleton Thursday where they announced a new plan with the U.S. Defense Department to protect monarch butterfly habitats on U.S. military installations.
The announcement came two days after the Fish and Wildlife Service started the yearlong process to list the monarch butterfly as a threatened species.
Working around threatened and endangered plants and animals isn't new for the U.S. military — it employs biologists and botanists to protect the natural resources found on military installations.
The commanding general of Camp Pendleton and all west coast Marine bases, Brig. Gen. Nick Brown, says the staff at the base have a lot of experience managing all sorts of protected species.
"Birds, reptiles, mammals — there's a long list of protected species here on Camp Pendleton that our environmentalists work to preserve every day," Brown said.
Monarchs are found throughout the continental U.S. and migrate to warmer climates for the winter. Those east of the Rocky Mountains migrate south to Mexico. Those in the western U.S. come to the California coast.
This western monarch population has declined more than 95% since the 1980s and has a 99% chance of extinction by 2080, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Nicole Alt, the director of the center for pollinator conservation at the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the problem comes down to loss of habitat — especially the milkweed plant the butterflies rely on.
"They are very keyed in on milkweed and they need native milkweed for their life history and their life cycle," Alt said. "So the adults lay eggs on the milkweed, the caterpillars grow and then turn into butterflies generation over generation. And so native milkweed, as well as native flowering plants, are really important for monarchs and other pollinators."
Camp Pendleton is the largest stretch of undeveloped coastline in Southern California, Brown said. That means it can play an important part in preserving the species.
"If Camp Pendleton didn't exist, this would be like Dallas-Fort Worth where I think that urban sprawl would take over," Brown said during an interview on the base at Del Mar Beach. "So we work closely with state to preserve things like, this beach that you see behind me, as well as our training areas here aboard Camp Pendleton."
Unlike other threatened and endangered species, everyone can help create habitats for pollinators, Alt said.
"Whether that's planting milkweed in their yard, encouraging native flowers in open space or rights of way or anywhere we can," Alt said. "Because that's going to help both the monarch and other native pollinators — we all can do a little bit. That's the incredible thing about pollinator conservation."
Public comment on adding the monarch to the threatened species list is open through early March and the final decision is expected by the end of next year.
