Federal wildlife officials proposed on Tuesday that monarch butterflies receive protection as a threatened species.

The flashy orange and black butterflies, which flutter forth each year on an epic migration that spans thousands of miles and multiple generations, are found from coast to coast in the United States during warmer months. Despite precipitous declines, they are still prevalent enough that, if the proposal goes through, they would become the most commonly seen species to receive federal protection.

That means officials are walking a tightrope with the proposal. Restrict too few activities that harm monarchs, and officials risk creating a merely symbolic listing that does little to stave off further declines. Restrict too many, and they could trigger a political backlash.

Tight rules could also backfire by dissuading people from creating butterfly habitat on their property, because the presence of a protected species could expose them to liability.

“There aren’t that many species where everyday people in their backyard can do something to help an endangered species,” said Jake Li, who leads efforts to list endangered species at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “That’s, to me, one thing that makes monarchs so different and why we want to put a heavier thumb on the scale of incentives for people to help us conserve the species.”

The fate of the proposal will ultimately depend on the new administration in Washington. Under Donald J. Trump’s first presidency, wildlife officials found that monarchs met the criteria for listing under the Endangered Species Act, but they were not placed under protection because other species were deemed to have priority.

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