Congressmen Carbajal and Panetta secure $10 million dollars to support monarch conservation efforts

PISMO BEACH, Calif. -- Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24) and Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) highlighted the $10 million dollar investment toward the critical monarch butterfly and pollinator conservation this week.

The federal funding package was passed at the end of 2022.

The $10 million dollars were $6 million dollars over what was originally approved.

$3 million dollars were made available through the Monarch and Pollinator Highway Program.

The program was created as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021 with the support of both Carbajal and Panetta.

Additional funds were approved by President Joe Biden for the fiscal year of 2023 to support western monarchs and other pollinators through the National Wildlife Refuge System.

President Biden also signed off on an additional $3 million dollars to support scientific research.

Rep. Panetta alongside Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) reintroduced the bipartisan Monarch Action, Recovery, and Conservation of Habitat (MONARCH) Act as well as the Monarch and Pollinator Highway Act.

Rep. Carbajal supported both Acts as co-lead and plans to reintroduce the MONARCH Act in the 118th Congress.

This comes at a time when monarch butterflies have decreased by 95 percent since the 1980s.

Advocates took action and fought for change after 2014 monarch butterflies were at risk of being listed as an endangered species.

Western monarch butterfly populations rebounded from 2,000 butterflies in 2020 to more than 247,000 in 2021.

For more on the Monarch, conservation stay tuned on your news channel at 4, 5, and 6 p.m. today.

To read more about the monarch funding efforts click the link below.

https://carbajal.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1342