Tell the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the American bumblebee under the Endangered Species Act today.
The Fish and Wildlife Service
American bumblebees once lazily buzzed over backyards, fields and meadows across our country.
Today, the species has vanished from eight states, and it’s teetering on the brink of extinction. The American bumblebee population has plummeted by 90% since the year 2000 due to the same factors that affect all precious pollinators: the widespread use of bee-killing pesticides, habitat loss and climate change.1
It’s not too late to save the American bumblebee — but we need to act fast.
Eight states — Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wyoming — have already lost the American bumblebee entirely. The species has declined by 99% in New York and by more than 50% in the Midwest and the Southeast. And yet, the American bumblebee is not protected as an endangered species.2
The Endangered Species Act can change that. It’s our best tool to prevent extinction, with a 90% success rate.3 This is the law that saved the bald eagle and the American crocodile — and now it can do the same for the American bumblebee.
By listing this fuzzy flier as endangered, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would be required to create a recovery plan — helping to create safe havens for these bumblebees and give them the monitoring and protection they need to begin to thrive again.
In September 2021, the agency found that endangered species protections may be warranted for the bee. While that’s a good start, nothing has happened in the year and a half since.
We need urgent and quick action to save American bumblebees now, before we lose them forever.
Over the past few years, our staff and supporters across the country have helped win commitments from home improvement stores to stop selling plants with bee-killing neonic pesticides, and our national network has won laws in several states banning some of these pesticides’ worst uses. We’ve even won new protections for bees on land owned by the Department of Defense.
But bees still need our help. The rusty patched bumblebee and Franklin’s bumblebee have both been granted endangered species protections. Now it’s time to do the same for the American bumblebee — before it’s too late.
Sign your name to Environment America's petition and tell the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the American bumblebee under the Endangered Species Act today.
References:
Today, the species has vanished from eight states, and it’s teetering on the brink of extinction. The American bumblebee population has plummeted by 90% since the year 2000 due to the same factors that affect all precious pollinators: the widespread use of bee-killing pesticides, habitat loss and climate change.1
It’s not too late to save the American bumblebee — but we need to act fast.
Eight states — Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wyoming — have already lost the American bumblebee entirely. The species has declined by 99% in New York and by more than 50% in the Midwest and the Southeast. And yet, the American bumblebee is not protected as an endangered species.2
The Endangered Species Act can change that. It’s our best tool to prevent extinction, with a 90% success rate.3 This is the law that saved the bald eagle and the American crocodile — and now it can do the same for the American bumblebee.
By listing this fuzzy flier as endangered, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would be required to create a recovery plan — helping to create safe havens for these bumblebees and give them the monitoring and protection they need to begin to thrive again.
In September 2021, the agency found that endangered species protections may be warranted for the bee. While that’s a good start, nothing has happened in the year and a half since.
We need urgent and quick action to save American bumblebees now, before we lose them forever.
Over the past few years, our staff and supporters across the country have helped win commitments from home improvement stores to stop selling plants with bee-killing neonic pesticides, and our national network has won laws in several states banning some of these pesticides’ worst uses. We’ve even won new protections for bees on land owned by the Department of Defense.
But bees still need our help. The rusty patched bumblebee and Franklin’s bumblebee have both been granted endangered species protections. Now it’s time to do the same for the American bumblebee — before it’s too late.
Sign your name to Environment America's petition and tell the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the American bumblebee under the Endangered Species Act today.
References:
- Elizabeth Gamillo, “The American Bumblebee Has Nearly Vanished From Eight States,” Smithsonian Magazine, October 6, 2021.
- Elizabeth Gamillo, “The American Bumblebee Has Nearly Vanished From Eight States,” Smithsonian Magazine, October 6, 2021.
- Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss, “Is the Endangered Species Act a Success or Failure?,” Scientific American, August 9, 2012.
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To:
The Fish and Wildlife Service
From:
[Your Name]
American bumblebees once lazily buzzed over backyards, fields and meadows all across our country -- but today, its population has plummeted by 90% over the past two decades, and it’s vanished completely from eight states. It’s not too late to save the American bumblebee, but we need to act fast.
Initial findings by your agency were that new protections for this bee may be warranted. Given the sharp decline in this species, I urge you to move quickly to list the American bumblebee as an endangered species.