Rights-of-way

Showy milkweed grows along a roadside in Utah
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Showy milkweed grows along a roadside in Utah.

We continue our active efforts to conserve monarch butterflies, working with partners across the monarch’s range. The Nationwide Candidate Conservation Agreement on Energy and Transportation Lands for monarchs was approved in April 2020.

More than 45 energy and transmission companies and state departments of transportation are voluntarily committing time and funding to carry out monarch butterfly-friendly management practices on millions of acres in rights of way. 

The monarch butterfly Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurance with integrated Candidate Conservation Agreement for energy and transportation lands additionally provides participants regulatory assurances that additional conservation measures will not be required if the monarch is protected under the Endangered Species Act.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved an “enhancement of survival” permit application associated with this agreement. The permit holder is the University of Illinois-Chicago, which is coordinating participation. Learn about the historic agreement that will conserve millions of acres for monarch butterflies and other pollinators across the United States.

More on the Candidate Conservation Agreement

Highlighted stories

A monarch butterfly rests on a milkweed plant
Monarch Highway
Bay area highways connect thousands of vehicles to their destinations daily, and a partnership between the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will help make these same roadways habitat for monarch butterflies. Caltrans District 4, which...
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Habitat Restoration
Orange and black butterflies congregate in an oak tree
Making room for monarchs
The Nationwide Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances for Monarch Butterfly on Energy and Transportation Lands, launched in April, encourages transportation and energy partners to provide and maintain monarch habitat on potentially millions of acres of rights-of-way and associated lands.
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Habitat Restoration
Hill County Southbound Safety Rest Area “Monarch Waystation”
Monarch Waystations support butterfly migration
The Native Plant Society of Texas, in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, created four monarch waystations at highway rest areas between Austin and Dallas along Interstate 35, also known as the official “Monarch Highway”
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Our Partners