The battle over the bee continues.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday that designating “critical habitat” is not warranted for the endangered rusty patched bumblebee.
This designation would have been extra layer of protection for the bee, on top of its already endangered status.
The USFWS said the bee could survive without having specific areas managed for its protection. According to the agency, biologists have concluded that habitat loss is not the biggest reason for the bee’s decline. Additional factors include disease and climate change.
An environmental group, the Center for Biological Diversity, decried the decision: “By refusing to designate critical habitat for the rusty patched bumblebee, the Fish and Wildlife Service is blatantly ignoring threats like habitat loss, pesticides and pathogens that are driving this species to extinction,” said Tara Cornelisse, an entomologist at the Center.
“This decision weakens the bee’s protection under the Endangered Species Act and will hamper its recovery,” she said.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said the designation of “critical habitat” wasn’t necessary: “The designation of critical habitat plays a very specific role in species recovery and is prudent when a species’ recovery is dependent on specific habitat elements it needs to survive,” said Lori Nordstrom, assistant regional director for ecological services in the service’s Great Lakes region.
“As a habitat generalist, the rusty patched bumblebee can find the habitat it needs in a variety of ecosystems, including prairies, woodlands, marshes, agricultural landscapes and residential parks and gardens, all of which are abundant across the bee’s range,” she said.
Another environmental group, the Natural Resources Defense Council, also spoke out against the decision: The service’s decision not to designate critical habitat is “shocking” and probably will bring another legal challenge, said Rebecca Riley, an attorney with the council.
From 2017: Bumblebee listed as endangered species for first time
“The bee has lost over 90% of its historic range,” she said. “We were expecting the Fish and Wildlife Service to do its job and protect what is left.”
The rusty patched bumblebee was listed as endangered in 2017, the first bee in the continental U.S. ever to make the endangered species list.
Business groups had previously raised concerns about the bumblebee designation, saying it could affect industries such as agriculture, residential and commercial development, and energy production.
“There’s a high likelihood that landowners or home builders would be encumbered” if critical habitat were designated, said Michael Mittelholzer, vice president for environmental policy with the National Association of Home Builders.
Named for the rust-colored marks on its back, the bee was once common and abundant across 28 states from Connecticut to South Dakota. Today, the species is only found in small, scattered populations in 10 states.
It it estimated to be present in only 0.1% of its former range.
Bees are responsible for pollinating most of the plants that require insect pollination to produce fruits, seeds and nuts. Like other bees, rusty patched bumblebees pollinate important crops such as tomatoes, cranberries and peppers.
People can help boost the rusty patched bumblebee population by growing a garden or adding a native flowering tree or shrub to yards and minimizing pesticide use, the Fish and Wildlife Service has said.
Leaving some areas of the yard unmowed in summer and unraked in fall can also help, since bumblebees need a safe place to build their nests and overwinter. Additionally, try leaving some standing plant stems in gardens and flower beds in winter, the agency suggested.
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rusty patched bumblebee: Endangered bee doesn’t get more protection