Berrien County officials are looking at what they can do to help protect the threatened monarch butterfly population in the United States.
In December 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) published its intent that the monarch butterfly receive protection as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. A public comment period on the federal move closed in May and an official determination is pending.
Getting ahead of what will likely arrive in the form of potentially onerous regulations, Berrien County’s Road Department is seeking to partner with the County Road Association (CRA) of Michigan, to achieve two objectives — the right to maintain county roads and protection of monarch butterflies and milkweed, the insect’s primary food source.
The Berrien County Board of Commissioners learned more about the potential partnership with the CRA during its Aug. 14 meeting. Commissioner Jim Curran said at its core, this is a move to protect the county’s ability to maintain roads.
“They’re going to put the monarch butterfly on the (threatened) species list and this basically says you can’t do anything within the road right-of-way that might disturb their food source. Any project we would do that involved the federal government, we would have to get a special permit from them to do this.”
By joining the County Road Association’s program, Curran said Berrien County will have the association handle the necessary compliance measures on the county’s behalf. Curran said the arrangement will simplify the process for local projects.
“This will bypass all of that and the County Road Association will take care of all of that for us.”
As part of the agreement, Berrien County will stop mowing the outermost three feet of its road rights-of-way to preserve milkweed habitat. Other areas between the roadway and the ditches will continue to be mowed.
Berrien County Administrator Brian Dissette said the full board of commissioners will consider approving the partnership with the CRA at its next meeting.
