PISMO BEACH, Calif. -- The Western Monarch butterfly population that overwinters in California has dropped to devastating levels, with only 1,914 individuals spotted in this year's winter count.

They've been declining for decades, but experts say they may have reached an extinction threshold in 2018 when volunteers only counted 30,000.

Angela Laws, endangered-species conservation biologist for the Xerces Society, said the population appears to be collapsing.

"It's a 99.9% drop from the '80s, when there were an estimated four million monarchs overwintering along the California coast," Laws outlined. "It's a big drop in their population. It's very worrying."

She noted reasons for the stark decline include loss of native milkweed habitat, pesticide use, development at their overwintering sites and climate change.

The Western population tends to return each winter along the California coast, from San Diego to Mendocino counties, with a particular concentration near Pismo Beach.

Deedee Soto, farm-bill pollinator conservation planner for the Xerces Society, works with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to help farmers and ranchers plant pollinator habitat on their land, mostly native milkweed and nectar plants.

"The rangelands are particularly important for monarchs because the habitat is more so protected from these heavily developed areas and areas where there's a lot of pesticide use and some habitat degradation," Soto explained.

People can help the effort to save the monarchs by reducing pesticide use in their yards and planting monarch-friendly plants.

For tips, check out savewesternmonarchs.org.

In addition, the Endangered Species Coalition is asking supporters to write letters to Congress urging lawmakers to pass the Monarch Act, a bill which would provide funding for projects to save the species.


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Whether you are hunting, fishing, hiking or enjoying Wyoming's open spaces this fall, game officials have tips for staying safe while visiting the home of black bears and grizzlies.

Dan Thompson, large carnivore section supervisor for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said it is important to pay attention to signs of bear activity, especially as animals are preparing for winter hibernation.

"Right now, bears are very preoccupied trying to put on as much weight as they can before they go to sleep in the next month or two," Thompson pointed out. "And so bears are fully active, and that's why we do see the potential for interaction between people and bears."

Bear Wise Wyoming can help beginners recognize scat, tracks, diggings and other bear activity. In most situations, bears will avoid people, but if you do come across a bear in their kitchen or bedroom, the guide offers keys to determine defensive or aggressive behavior, and ways to respond so human guests and bears both live to tell the tale.

It is important to carry bear spray, and to keep it accessible for split-second use. Bears will typically defend three things in earnest: their personal space, their offspring, and their food source, but most will walk away once they determine you are not a threat.

Thompson advised if you encounter a bear, the first step is to let them know you are there.

"They know better than to mess with people," Thompson emphasized. "So just let them know who you are, talk calmly, don't be aggressive. Because if they're trying to figure out what you are, you're just letting them know what you are. And so yes, we say, 'Hey bear, hey bear,' if you're walking into an area or if you see a bear, and then slowly walk away."

If you encounter a predatory bear, one showing a great deal of interest in you and is not displaying defensive stress behaviors such as moaning and paw swatting, make yourself as big as possible and yell in a loud, firm voice. Thompson noted using a firearm if the bear charges will require pinpoint accuracy.

"If you have a bear charging, it's a split-second scenario," Thompson stressed. "The nice part about bear spray is you don't have to be as accurate, because it sprays a large mist. And so if you can deter that with bear spray, and you can both walk away, that's a good thing."

After a gathering of hunters, landowners and wildlife managers, a new report draws some conclusions on how Montana can better manage its elk population.

The Montana Citizens Elk Management Coalition has published a report on the Elk Management Symposium, which took place in August.

Kathy Hadley, a board member of the Montana Wildlife Federation and a hunter who spoke at the symposium, said management is at a crossroads in Montana.

"We have had declining harvest rates on public lands over the last few years of elk, declining numbers of elk on public lands, and a problem of having too many elk on private lands," Hadley outlined. "So there's an imbalance in the system that didn't use to be here."

The Montana Citizens Elk Management Coalition developed three policy recommendations based on the meeting. Hadley noted the symposium took place while Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks begins to design a new elk-management plan.

Hadley pointed out one of the recommendations is to update landowner incentive programs such as Block Management, which provides funds to landowners in exchange for opening up access to their lands to hunters. She added the program has about 1,200 landowners enrolled and opens up access to more than six million acres. Hadley believes hunters should deal with the issue of too many elk.

"Maybe we need to increase payments to private landowners who allow hunters on their lands," Hadley suggested. "And we just thought maybe that particular program might be useful to update it to engage more landowners who are having these problems."

The other recommendations include revising the structure of hunting seasons and exploring new funding models for restoring habitat. Hadley emphasized lawmakers from both parties were part of the symposium, and so she hopes to engage them in the 2023 legislative session on these issues.

"Wildlife management, historically, has been bipartisan, and we're trying really hard to get us back to that place," Hadley stressed.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law on Friday to require Caltrans to integrate wildlife corridors into its plans as roads are built around the state.

Collisions between drivers and wildlife are rampant - with 44,000 reported between 2016 and 2020, and likely many more that go unreported, causing injuries, deaths and property damage.

Mari Galloway, California Program Manager for Wildlands Network in Sacramento, said animals need to be able to migrate freely.

"Especially mountain lions in Southern California, their inability to move is causing genetic abnormalities and potential local extinctions," said Galloway. "But also in eastern California, we have mule deer corridors, which are being severed by some of the major highways through there."

Wildlife crossings allow animals to search farther afield for mates, which research says supports genetic diversity.

Galloway added that the endangered desert tortoise and the California tiger salamander, in particular, should also now have a much better chance to survive and thrive.

Kim Delfino, president of the group Earth Advocacy in Sacramento, said Assembly Bill 2344 guarantees that Caltrans will now make wildlife corridors a priority.

"They're going to be planning for it," said Delfino. "They're going to be incorporating it into their projects. They're going to be upgrading their Highway Design Manual. And they're going to be identifying areas across the state that are connectivity hotspots that need to be addressed."

Seven mountain lions have been found dead on or near the highways of Southern California this year.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.