The monarch butterfly, with its striking orange and black markings, is one of the most recognizable species in North America. They make an amazing migration each year, flying from as far as Canada and across the United States to congregate at a few forested overwintering sites in the mountains of central Mexico and coastal California.

Over the past two decades, monarch numbers in North America have declined, prompting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to join state agencies, federal agencies, and non-government groups to identify threats to the monarch and take steps to conserve monarchs throughout their range. Blue Grass Army Depot is part of the migration path that the monarchs travel, so thankfully the butterflies can be seen in the summer in areas that contain milkweed and other flowering plants.

As an additional protection measure, the monarch has been proposed to be federally listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, however, the protections will not apply until the date of final rule, but the BGAD Natural Resources program is taking a pro-active approach to both tagging monarchs and preparing for habitat restoration.