ACR103 - California Western Monarch Protection Week.

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 103 CHAPTER 166 Relative to California Western Monarch Protection Week. [ Filed with Secretary of State September 05, 2025. ] LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST ACR 103, Addis. California Western Monarch Protection Week. This measure would proclaim the week of July 14, 2025, to July 18, 2025, inclusive, to be California Western Monarch Protection Week. Digest Key Fiscal Committee: NO Bill Text WHEREAS, The western monarch butterfly is known for its astonishing long-distance annual migration to overwintering habitats along the central coast of California; and WHEREAS, In late November, western monarchs migrate to the California coast and spend the winter clustering in groves of pine, cypress, and eucalyptus trees; and WHEREAS, As temperatures warm and daylight hours increase in February, western monarchs mate and migrate inland to lay eggs on emerging milkweeds; and WHEREAS, Over the past quarter century, the number of monarchs recorded during the peak of the migration season has fallen a staggering 81 percent, from 1,235,490 monarchs to just 233,394 monarchs last year; and WHEREAS, Monarch populations are declining due to the loss and degradation of breeding, migratory, and overwintering habitat, climate change, and the use of certain herbicides and insecticides that harm milkweed; and WHEREAS, The United States Fish and Wildlife Service, as of 2024, is proposing protections for the monarch butterfly and encouraging public involvement in its recovery, including the designation of over 4,300 acres in California as critical habitat; and WHEREAS, California has sought to protect and preserve over 400 western monarch butterfly overwintering sites across the state, including Pacific Grove Monarch Sanctuary, Natural Bridges State Beach, Goleta Monarch Butterfly Grove, and Point Mugu State Park; and WHEREAS, The western monarch butterfly migration is vital to central coast tourism, generating significant revenue for the state during an otherwise slow season for the tourism industry; and WHEREAS, Monarch butterflies have emerged as powerful symbols of both biological diversity and the fight for human rights at the United States-Mexico border due to the butterflies’ migratory nature; and WHEREAS, Recognition of California Western Monarch Protection Week will have a positive impact by raising public awareness, promoting conservation efforts, and inspiring community action to protect monarch butterflies and their habitats; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby proclaims the week of July 14, 2025, to July 18, 2025, inclusive, to be California Western Monarch Protection Week; and be it further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.