For the First Time, U.S. Considers Declaring a Bee Endangered (feature story & E petition)

The imperiled rusty-patched bumblebee, which pollinates blueberries, apples, and other crops, has disappeared from 87 percent of its historic range.


(Photo: Christy Stewart)


http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/09/22/us-considers-giving-endangered-species-protection-rusty-patched-bumblebee

SEP 22, 2015 John R. Platt covers the environment, technology, philanthropy, and more for Scientific American, Conservation, Lion, and other publications.

If the rusty-patched bumblebee is extremely lucky, it could soon be the first bee species to be protected under the United States Endangered Species Act.

The rusty-patched bumblebee has not been very lucky at all in recent years. The insect, which was once common to the Eastern Seaboard and the Midwest, has disappeared from 87 percent of its historic range. Even where it does exist, its populations are as much as 95 percent smaller than they were a few decades ago.

In response to this rapid decline, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation in January 2013 petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the rusty-patched bumblebee as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. After no action was taken, the group followed up with a lawsuit in 2014. Last week the FWS finally responded and agreed that the species may merit protection. The agency will conduct a 12-month review to determine if an Endangered Species Act listing is warranted.

No other bees or bumblebees are listed under the Endangered Species Act, and the move comes amid growing concern about the decline of honeybees, which pollinate a third of the world’s food supply.

FULL story and PETITION at link.