The USDA said current pesticide regulations are adequate to protect monarch butterflies, commenting on a proposal to list the king of butterflies as a threatened species.

In a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on March 12, the USDA recommended against requiring farmers to get an incidental take permit to spray near monarch butterfly habitat.

“Overally, labeled agricultural pesticide uses pose a negligible risk to the monarch butterfly due to existing and ongoing label mitigation strategies for spray drift reduction,” the letter reads.

USFWS proposed in December listing monarchs under the Endangered Species Act. USFWS received more than 68,000 comments. A majority were from mass mailings organized by environmental groups seeking new restrictions on pesticides.

Monarchs are divided into Western and Eastern migratory populations and are heading toward extinction, according to USFW. The agency blames habitat loss, pesticides and climate change for the dwindling population.

Monarchs have a massive range, potentially affecting land use throughout the West. Oregon, Washington, Idaho, California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah form the core of the Western range.

The Natural Resources Defense Council said USFW should not exempt agricultural pesticide use from regulated activities.

To save monarchs, the USFW shouldn’t allow “business-as-usual industrial agricultural pesticide use,” according to the council.

“Prohibiting take resulting from pesticide use is crucial for the monarch’s survival and recovery,” the council commented.

Environmental groups petitioned USFWS a decade ago to list monarch butterflies. Although the Biden administration made the proposal, it will be up to the Trump administration to make the final decision.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association asked USFWS to reconsider listing monarchs. The association said it was concerned ranchers would be restricted from spaying for invasive plants, and grasshoppers and Mormon crickets.

“The monarch butterfly’s range spans the lower 48, making this one of the broadest ESA listings ever considered,” the association commented.