WTTW • September 15, 2021
Since evidence first emerged a decade ago of the precipitous decline of the rusty patched bumble bee, now found in just 13% of the range it inhabited as recently as the 1990s, the bee has become emblematic of the perils facing pollinators, including climate change and habitat loss. Its range extended across 28 states from Maine to the Dakotas. The federal recovery plan, sounds like an all-hands-on-deck approach, but it lacks teeth, said Lori Ann Burd, of the Center for Biological Diversity. “A species that’s been around for millions of years is in a death spiral. That tells us something is horribly wrong,” said Burd. “The biggest thing that jumps out is there’s one threat.” That threat is pesticides. “What (the bees) need is non-poisonous habitat.”