Friday JohnKu – AKA -TGIF – Fri-Yay/Good News

~ John W. Howell

Before we cover the good news today, let’s not forget the innocent people who lost their lives at the hands of fanatic Islamists on September 11, 2001- twenty-five years ago. I planned not to run a good news feature on this tragic anniversary, but I feel we should keep focusing on the good news when there is so much bad news in this world.

Today’s good news story comes from Diario AS and was sent to me by Noelle Granger, reporter at large. Thanks, Noelle

Mexico protected more than 1 million monarch butterflies in 1980. Decades later, they’ve created a one-of-a-kind ecosystem

The monarch butterfly’s migration is one of nature’s greatest journeys. Every fall, millions of monarchs travel more than 2,500 miles from southern Canada and the northern United States to spend the winter in the cool oyamel fir forests of central Mexico.

But behind this extraordinary spectacle lies a story of government protection, scientific discovery, and ecological recovery that permanently changed conservation efforts across North America.

After the first federal conservation decrees were issued in 1980 to protect the butterflies’ overwintering grounds, authorities safeguarded forests that host well over one million monarchs. Those protections laid the foundation for a protected ecosystem that now covers more than 139,000 acres.

The 1980 decree that changed everything

For decades, the exact location of the monarch butterflies’ winter colonies in Mexico’s mountains remained known only to local communities. That changed in the mid-1970s, when international researchers working alongside Mexican scientists mapped key overwintering sites in the Sierra Chincua and Cerro Pelón mountains.

In 1980, Mexico’s federal government issued its first presidential conservation decrees to formally protect the forests where enormous monarch colonies gathered each winter. Individual sites often contained well over one million butterflies.

The move helped curb uncontrolled logging in some of the most important habitats and marked the beginning of what would eventually become the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. Today, the protected area stretches across municipalities including Zitácuaro, Ocampo and Angangueo in the state of Michoacán, as well as Temascaltepec and San José del Rincón in the State of Mexico.

A UNESCO-recognized sanctuary

Covering 139,000 acres (56,259 hectares), the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve sits about 60 miles northwest of Mexico City in a mountainous region filled with dense forests. Its varying elevations create a range of microclimates that support numerous native plants and animals found nowhere else.

Every fall, millions — and in some years perhaps as many as a billion — monarch butterflies from across North America gather in small patches of forest within the reserve. Their bright orange wings blanket the trees so completely that entire hillsides appear to change color.

The sheer weight of so many butterflies can even bend tree branches.

When spring arrives, the monarchs begin their remarkable return journey north. Over the next eight months, the migration unfolds across four successive generations as the butterflies spread through the United States and into eastern Canada.

Despite decades of scientific research, one mystery remains unsolved: exactly how each new generation finds its way back to the same forests in central Mexico where its ancestors spent the winter.

The good news is that the Mexican government’s protection has ensured the Monarch’s survival. Today’s JohnKu talks about government action. I hope you have a super weekend.

Regulations by JohnW. Howell © 2026

Government does well,

When it regulates for good . . .

Saving the monarchs.

73 thoughts on “Friday JohnKu – AKA -TGIF – Fri-Yay/Good News”

  1. The west coast Monarchd overwinter in Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula. I have seen that. Haven’t been to Mexico but did read a wonderful novel about someone who was from there. It was called the 🦋 Daughter.

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  5. John, this is a rough day for me. I was and still am touched deeply by the attack on U.S. soil. This tragic event left an indelible memory that will never leave me. And that’s alright.

    Mexico has definitely done the right thing regarding the Monarch Butterflies. This “strange” country can certainly do great things.

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    1. I think folks who love their country were deeply affected by the attacks on 9/11. I have the same memories that will not leave me either. Sadly, there is a whole generation that views 9/11 as just a point in history with no personal meaning. Thnaks, Tom.

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  6. It’s impossible not to ponder the Mexican efforts on behalf of the butterflies without thinking of recent U.S. decisions to open many of our protected areas to logging. Resolve and wise decisions can do so much; we should do our best to be sure we have wise decision-makers in place.

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  14. Something colorful and uplifting for today. We rab caterpillars off our plats, feed them on parsley and have them pupate in a net cage. Then release them!

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  15. I sure appreciate this story. Interstate 35 through Iowa is called the Monarch Highway. Once I was amazed by dozens of Monarchs flocking on one side of a tree at my mother’s farmhouse, stopping on their way south.

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  18. I’ve read about the Monarch project and been in awe. Thank you, John, for resurrecting this incredible project — especially on this sacred day. ❤️

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  21. Thank you for sharing such a heartwarming piece of good news today, John! The image of millions of monarch wings completely coating the trees and blanketed over whole hillsides is so vivid and magical. It’s wonderful to see how that 1980 protection decree has paid off for over four decades. 🦋✨

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  27. I’m so happy to know this.

    Perhaps they will come back here? Oh, I still see a few over the summer.

    However, 25 years ago, when I moved here, every spring and fall there would be a few days of Monarch butterfly clouds moving overhead. The clouds got smaller each year. One pre covid summer, I did not see 1 Monarch.

    This summer I saw maybe 10-15 Monarchs. We planted a milkweed for them about 8 years ago.

    I hope the clouds of Monarchs returns.

    Hopeful JohnKu, thank you!

    👐🏼X 👐🏼X

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