The monarch butterfly's long journey to endangered species protection

• Emma Pelton, western monarch lead with the Portland-based Xerces Society, said seeing a monarch in Portland has become a "rare enough occurrence that it's pretty special."

Driving the news: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday it would reopen the public comment period on a proposal to list the monarch as a threatened species with enhanced habitat protection.

• Comments are open until May 19.

Catch up quick: Wildlife groups first petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to list the monarch under the Endangered Species Act in 2014.

• The agency announced in 2020 that "threatened" status was merited but precluded by higher-priority plants and animals.
• The monarch was placed on a waitlist until last December, when the agency formally proposed the butterfly's Endangered Species Act listing and unveiled a list of recommended conservation efforts. This began the initial public comment period, which ended March 12.

Between the lines: Wendy Caldwell, executive director of the Monarch Joint Venture, told Axios that protecting the monarch would be tricky given its wide range.

• Regulating the pesticides that pose the biggest threats to monarchs would also likely face resistance from farmers.

• The Fish and Wildlife Service said in a press release that the complexity of the rule is one of the reasons it extended the comment period.

Zoom in: There are plenty of ways for regular folks to help monarchs.

• Pelton said documenting any sightings of monarchs on citizen science sites like iNaturalist helps biologists like her track the butterfly's population.
• Planting a pollinator garden with milkweed (the only plant the butterflies will lay eggs on) and nectar-producing plants (for eating) can provide a hospitable habitat for migrating monarchs.

Yes, but: Make sure you're planting native milkweed and cutting it back in the fall to encourage the butterflies to continue their migration.