Missing Bumblebee in Northwest U.S. Could Join Endangered List

Federal officials want to list an elusive bumblebee known to pollinate alpine flowers in northern California and southern Oregon as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

The Franklin’s bumblebee hasn’t been seen since 2006, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in an Aug. 13 Federal Register notice that it is possible the species has gone extinct.

“This bee urgently needs all the help it can get,” Sarina Jepsen, director of the endangered species and aquatic conservation program at Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation in Portland, Ore., said in a news release.

The petition comes ...