Image of a monarch butterfly on a leaf.

The loss of America’s grasslands has led to alarming declines in the wildlife we all care about. If these iconic landscapes continue to disappear, we risk losing the animals that define our communities. These losses show that the places where people live are losing soil productivity and water, and are less able to withstand extreme heat and storms.

The collapse of this system is underway.

The North American Grasslands Conservation Act will help save America's prairies, savannas, glades, and sagebrush – in our own backyards.

Source: Rangeland Analysis Platform
Data source: Rangeland Analysis Platform
Leaflet © OpenStreetMap contributors © CARTO
Data source: Rangeland Analysis Platform
Leaflet © OpenStreetMap contributors © CARTO

Here is how grasslands in the U.S. looked in 1992.

Here is what remained in 2021.

Satellite technology has been able to track the recent loss of grasslands, but over half of native grasslands were already lost decades before these images were available.

Regional collapse

Across the continental U.S., grasslands have seen serious declines. In the middle of the country, where most of our grasslands still exist, 2 million acres are lost on average each year.

The maps below show how much grasslands have disappeared over the past 30 years in specific regions. These data exclude areas of cropland, development, and water (for more notes on the data, see References).

Grassland animals are losing their homes.

1992

2021

Southeast

Midwest

West

Northeast

Select a species to learn how it has been impacted by grasslands loss

Northern Bobwhite

Pronghorn

Monarch Butterfly

Greater Prairie-Chicken

Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout

Northern Pintail

Ring-necked Pheasant

Elk

Bobolink

Scaled Quail

Greater Sage-Grouse

Mallard

Southern Plains Bumble Bee

Mule Deer

Regal Fritillary

Photograph of a Monarch butterfly on pink flowers.

Monarch Butterfly

Monarch butterflies are famous for their epic migrations in the hundreds of millions between North America and Mexico. 80% of this population has been lost since the 1990s. Monarchs that overwinter on the California coast have been hit even harder, declining by over 95% since the 1980s.


Image of a map showing species trend data for Monarch Butterfly

Explore the interactive map

Use the map below to see how animals have been affected by the loss of grasslands and sagebrush.

Select a species

+
Monarch Butterfly
Monarch numbers have collapsed by 80-95% across the country.

+
Northern Bobwhite
+
Pronghorn
+
Greater Prairie-Chicken
+
Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout
+
Northern Pintail
+
Ring-necked Pheasant
+
Elk
+
Scaled Quail
+
Greater Sage-Grouse
+
Mallard
+
Southern Plains Bumble Bee
+
Mule Deer
+
Regal Fritillary
⌃
VIEW MAP LAYERS
Hold Cmd or Ctrl to zoom by scroll
− Minimize legend
Grasslands
Estimated abundance
Butterflies show relative loss at scale, and do not represent actual butterfly locations.
Western population range
Eastern population range
Data layers loading...
MarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarkerMarker
Leaflet © OpenStreetMap contributors © CARTO

By changing nothing, nothing changes.


Click below to call on Congress to restore disappearing grasslands by supporting a North American Grasslands Conservation Act.


+
View all references and credits