Americans Would Pay $4 Billion To Save Monarch Butterflies
Spotty Photo by and (c)2007 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man). Used under the GNU Free Documentation Lice They're certainly the kings of our hearts. Kids learn about them in school. They're the official insect or butterfly of seven U.S. states. I saw a scantily-clad version of one this Halloween, complete with fairly accurate wing patterns. (But no compound eyes or proboscis! Whyever not?) People love monarch butterflies. In fact, Americans love monarch butterflies so much that in a new survey, they indicated that, as a country, they'd be willing to pay more than $4 billion for their conservation. Surveys like these are, at best, rough estimates of how people feel about, and how much people are willing spend on, endangered species. But the results do suggest monarch butterflies are unusually popular. Similar surveys have found people are willing to spend comparable amounts...