American bumblebees have vanished from 8 U.S. states; could soon be protected under Endangered Species Act

Will bees be gone for good?

American bumblebees, whose populations have vanished from eight U.S. states in the past 20 years, could soon be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Experts say that Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Idaho, North Dakota, Wyoming and Oregon each have zero or close to zero American bumblebees left.

Earlier this year the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit that works to protect endangered species, and the Bombus Pollinator Association of Law Students of Albany Law School filed a petition calling for the bee to be placed under ESA protection before it’s too late.

Late last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the once-abundant species may indeed warrant ESA protection, kicking off a one-year assessment of the status of, or threats to, the American bumblebee.

A bumblebee flies near clover flowers, Monday, June 18, 2018, in Olympia, Wash. (Ted S. Warren/)

“Once the most commonly observed bumblebee in the United States, the American bumblebee has declined by 89% in relative abundance and continues to decline toward extinction due to the disastrous, synergistic impacts of threats including habitat loss, pesticides, disease, climate change, competition with honey bees, and loss of genetic diversity,” the petition, which was submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Feb. 1, stated.

Without “immediate action” to protect the bee under the ESA, what was once the most common species of bumblebee in North America “will continue its alarming decline towards extinction,” the petition warned.

“In sum, the American bumblebee has become very rare or possibly extirpated from 16 states in the Northeast and Northwest; it has experienced declines of over 90% in the upper Midwest; and 19 other states in the Southeast and Midwest have seen declines of over 50%,” petition authors wrote.

After a 90-day review conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency found substantial evidence that the listing of the American bumblebee under the ESA might indeed be necessary.

“This is an important first step in preventing the extinction of this fuzzy black-and-yellow beauty that was once a familiar sight,” Jess Tyler, one of the authors of the petition, said in a statement.

“To survive unchecked threats of disease, habitat loss and pesticide poisoning, American bumblebees need the full protection of the Endangered Species Act right now,” he added.