Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

April 23, 2022

Rhoda and Leonard Bernstein have a “No Mow May” sign in a prominent place in their yard. They’re one of more than 300 Edina residents unapologetically letting their grass grow in the coming weeks.

The effort is part of an international movement to encourage homeowners to postpone cutting their grass in spring. Proponents say that leaving grass unshorn helps pollinators such as bees thrive during the crucial post-winter period, when they are coming out of hibernation.

Suspending mowing allows flowering plants that grow in the grass — such as clovers and dandelions — to bloom, which provides pollinators and their offspring with nectar and pollen. In addition, taller grass can give shelter to bees and butterflies.

Continue reading this article at the Star Tribune website.

Yahoo! Finance 

April 29, 2022

Pollinators put food on our tables. One out of every three bites we eat comes to us courtesy of pollinators such as bees, butterflies, moths, flower flies, beetles and bats. Today, Toyota is donating $400,000 to the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) and the Pollinator Partnership (P2) that will be used to enhance 26,000 acres of pollinator habitat across North America over the next five years.

Continue reading this article on Yahoo! Finance.

The Pew Charitable Trusts

March 28, 2022

Each spring, millions of monarch butterflies leave their overwintering sites in the Sierra Madre mountains of central Mexico and begin their annual migration north across the United States.

The exodus and return of the iconic orange and black butterfly is one of the grandest spectacles of the natural world. But that sight is becoming increasingly rare as the monarch’s population has shrunk by nearly 90% in the past two decades, according to federal scientists.

The monarch faces many threats, including the loss of milkweed and other flowering plants across its range, degradation and loss of overwintering groves in both coastal California and Mexico, and the widespread use of herbicides and pesticides. Many of these stressors are worsened by climate change, according to advocates.

In the past two years, some state transportation departments, local governments and energy companies across 23 states have committed to preserving monarch habitat in hopes of protecting the species and preventing it from being added to the federal endangered species list.

Continue reading this article at the Pew Trusts website.

ESRI Blog

April 27, 2022

Electric transmission lines in northern Illinois cut through the Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve, one of the few remaining habitats of the endangered Hines emerald dragonfly. This rare insect stays underground for its first five years of life, making it particularly vulnerable to changes on the land above. To keep utility maintenance from harming the dragonfly, staff at Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) carefully crafted a habitat conservation plan that included the use of smart maps to remove lines to avoid conducting maintenance in sensitive areas.

Avoiding land that the Hines emerald dragonfly occupies helps the utility as well—eliminating the cost of complying with the strict protocols of the Endangered Species Act while simplifying land management.

ComEd’s conservation efforts serve as an example of how organizations can use technology to be both profitable and sustainable.

Continue reading this blog post on the ESRI website. 

TIME

March 21, 2022

In the depths of the Californian winter, an ember of hope has flickered for the monarch butterfly, the charismatic and beloved visitor that has seemingly been on a graceful descent into oblivion.

The annual mass migration of the orange and black butterflies to the coast of California, as well as a separate odyssey the creatures take each year to the mountains of central Mexico, is among the grandest of spectacles in the natural world. Images of butterflies adorn t-shirts, pottery, and confectionery sold at tourist hotspots that have sprouted up in places where the butterflies gather in such numbers that they cause the boughs of trees to sag.

Morrow County Sentinel (Mt. Gilead, OH)

April 8, 2022

 Free Milkweed seeds and planting instructions are available while supplies last, from Richland Soil and Water Conservation District (Richland SWCD), located at 1495 W. Longview Avenue, Suite 205B, Mansfield, Ohio 44906. The seeds may be picked up from a basket outside the Richland SWCD office door.

In the fall, the Ohio Pollinator Habitat Initiative (OPHI) spear-headed the Milkweed Seed Pod collection and was aided by other partners, such as Richland SWCD and the public, in the collection of milkweed seed pods in an effort to help foster habitats for Monarch butterflies and other pollinators. The seeds being given away were harvested from the collected pods and re-packaged by Richland SWCD volunteers, Pete Holmes and Marilyn Roe.

Continue reading this article at the Morrow County Sentinel website.

 

WJFW-TV (Rhinelander, Wisconsin)

March 24, 2022

LINCOLN COUNTY – As we get into spring, it’s important to think about our local pollinators. Now Lincoln County residents have an easy way to help them out.

A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen between different plants to fertilize them.

Continue reading this article at the WJFW-TV website.

Norman Transcript (Norman, OK)

February 18, 2022

A recent garden installation through a collaboration with the state and the city is the latest effort in a series of projects to make Norman more suitable for butterflies.

Every spring, Monarch butterflies embark on a migratory journey from Mexico through the central United States. Oklahoma, along with Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota make up a six state memorandum signed in 2016, which designated more than 1,500 miles of Interstate 35 as Monarch Highway.

In 2021, the Oklahoma Department of Transportation collaborated with the city and planted approximately 10 acres of wildflowers and native grasses on the west side of Interstate 35 and Highway 9 to protect butterflies and other pollinators.

Continue reading this article at the Norman Transcript website.

West Central Tribune (Willmar, MN)

Jan 4, 2022

While the drought this summer might have had an impact on milkweed growth, Kandiyohi County has marked the completion of its first year in a new monarch butterfly habitat projection program. The goal is to help the state’s butterfly population rebound while also allowing public works projects to move forward with fewer restrictions.

In 2021, the County Board approved the county’s participation in the Nationwide Candidate Conservation Agreement for Monarch Butterfly on Energy and Transportation Land conservation program. The agreement, created by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in partnership with the University of Illinois Chicago, has a goal to set aside 465,000 acres of rights of way nationwide as protected monarch butterfly habitat.

Read the rest of this article at the West Central Tribune website.

La Junta (CO) Tribune-Democrat

December 1, 2021

By now there’s broad awareness of the critical role pollinators play in most of the delicious foods that grace the traditional holiday table — from the mashed potatoes and roasted squash to the pumpkin bread and pecan pie — but researchers are only just scratching the surface in understanding how agricultural land and pollinator habitat can be interwoven together to benefit both.

Continue reading the article on the La Junta Tribune-Democrat website.