America’s first endangered bee just scored 1.5 million acres to call home.
- • On June 1, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized about 1,534,951 acres of critical habitat for the rusty patched bumble bee.
- • The land spans 14 units across 33 counties in six states: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
- • The rule takes effect July 1, helping a bee that has vanished from most of its old range.
The feds are going to bat for the bee. On June 1, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service locked in about 1,534,951 acres of critical habitat for the rusty patched bumble bee – the fuzzy pollinator with a rust-colored splotch on its back.
The land covers 14 zones across 33 counties in six states: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. It kicks in July 1.
But the backstory is grim. This bee once buzzed across half the country. Now it’s down to about 13 states.
In 2017, it became the first bee in America ever branded endangered.
These days it hangs on mostly in the suburbs and cities of the Midwest – around Minneapolis-St. Paul, Chicago, Iowa City and Milwaukee.
So what does the designation actually do? It won’t fence off an acre or kick anyone off their land. It just forces the feds to factor in the bee before they fund, permit or build anything in those zones.
The bee’s a creature of habit: up early, busy spring through fall, partial to prairies and gardens with flowers to feed on and quiet ground to nest in – exactly what’s been paved and sprayed away over the years.
Conservationists are calling it make-or-break for one of the country’s most endangered pollinators.
And this is bigger than one bug. Bumble bees pollinate the wild plants and grocery-store crops we all count on. Save the bee, save the dinner table.
The comeback won’t be quick. But as of July 1, the rusty patched bumble bee has 1.5 million acres to start one.
