American Bumble Bee Moves Toward Endangered Species Protection

Pesticides, development, and climate change are so imperiling the American bumble bee that it may need to be listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday.

Such a listing could have profound implications for development, pesticide use in farming, and livestock grazing because the species is a valuable pollinator that’s highly sensitive to environmental changes.

“The implications could be really significant,” said Keith Hirokawa, an environmental law professor at Albany Law School. “A far-reaching solution would be a fundamental change in the way we build, our agricultural operations,” so that ...