Tell the FWS to protect the American bumblebee

In the past two decades, American bumblebee populations have dropped by 90%.

Pesticides, climate change, disease and habitat loss have all been putting increasing pressure on the bumblebees in recent years. In the Midwest and Southeast, as much as half of all American bumblebees have disappeared. In other states, that number rises dramatically -- in New York, as many as 99% of the bumblebees have disappeared. And in eight states, the bee has vanished entirely.

American bumblebees play an important role in many ecosystems' food webs, providing food for birds and reptiles and helping the growth of a number of plants. They also play an important role in pollinating a range of crops and wildflowers. But if nothing changes, the continued collapse of species like this bee will have devastating consequences that will ripple across our country's food webs and ecosystems. For that reason, I write to urge you to grant endangered species protections to the American bumblebee.