Advocacy
The Xerces Society advocates on behalf of threatened, endangered, and at-risk invertebrates and their habitats. From the world’s rarest butterflies, to caddisflies that live solely in one stream, to declining bumble bee populations, the Xerces Society is dedicated to protecting invertebrates and the ecosystems that depend on them.
Advocacy efforts include
- Preparing Status reviews on rare or declining species
- Filing petitions under the U.S. Endangered Species Act for the most imperiled species
- Working with Federal, State and County agencies to conserve habitats for rare and endangered invertebrates
- Working with lawmakers to help them understand the importance of invertebrates and how to best protect them
Recent accomplishments
- Endangered Species Act petition filed for the rare Susan’s purse-making caddisfly, which inhabits only two springs in Colorado
- Executive director Scott Hoffman Black testified to the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee on Endangered Species Act decisions in which politics has trumped science
- Comments submitted on the Critical Habitat designations for the Salt Creek tiger beetle
- Working to regulate bumble bee transport between states in order to protect native bumble bee species
