July 2015 - Parks & Recreation - 56

NRPA Update
Parks Saving the Monarch
By Richard J. Dolesh

RPA members are stepping up to join the fight to save the threatened monarch butterfly. Many park and recreation agencies are
starting to plant milkweed seeds and plants to create monarch
waystations as well as tackle larger habitat restoration projects,
planting hundreds of milkweed plants along with other nectar-bearing plants
beneficial for a wide variety of pollinator species.

Milkweed Resources
There are multiple sources of free
milkweed seeds and plants from
quantities as small as a few packets
of seeds to a pallet of hundreds of
milkweed plants. You can also collect
your own milkweed seeds and grow
plants from seed, especially if your
agency has plant propagation capabilities. Don't have your own greenhouses? Try partnering with a local
nursery to grow seeds that your citizen volunteers collect. Be sure to request your milkweeds are not treated
with neonicotinoid insecticides.
* For a single flat (32 plants), visit
www.monarchwatch.org/bringback-the-monarchs/milkweed/
free-milkweeds.
* For larger quantities of seed, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture has partnered with the National Park Service
to provide seed packets for distribution to schools and parks. Contact
Kassandra Hardy at kassandra_hardy@nps.gov for more information.
* For restoration project quantities
of 200 to 1,400 plants, visit www.
monarchwatch.org/bring-backthe-monarchs/milkweed/free-milkweeds-for-restoration-projects. The
plants are free, but you must pay the
shipping costs which are nominal.
* For info on all things monarchs for
parks, download this free resources
guide - put together by ace naturalist Denise Gibbs of Maryland and
Monarch Joint Venture with NRPA -
visit www.nrpa.org/About-NRPA/Impacting-Communities/Conservation.

54 Parks & Recreation

You have read in Parks & Recreation
magazine and elsewhere that monarchs are in grave trouble. The Eastern
population of monarchs once numbered almost a billion individuals as
recently as the mid-1990s, but numbers
have plummeted almost 95 percent and
there are few signs of a rebound.
The causes of monarch decimation
are many, but there is one bright hope
to return the species to its former
abundance. If you plant milkweed,
you can begin to help save the monarch. Milkweed is essential to the
monarch's lifecycle. Migrating monarchs lay their eggs on the underside
of milkweed leaves and the caterpillars that hatch eat the leaves, growing
larger before their metamorphosis
into adult monarchs, which then continue on their migration route. It is
one of the most marvelous and mysterious migrations of nature, and we
all have the opportunity to witness it
in our parks and backyards.
So, what can you do? First, you
need to plant milkweed seeds and
plants in a suitable habitat. The good
news is that milkweed will grow just
about anywhere and it is a hardy
plant that needs little care. You must
plant milkweed seeds and plants that
are appropriate for your region, however, from seeds that were collected
from your region. Monarch Watch,
the nonprofit education and conser-

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vation organization out of Kansas
University that propagates and sells
milkweed seeds, has a wealth of information on its website, including a
bio-region map that shows where the
regions are and what seed and plants
are available for purchase. If you
do nothing else, visit the Monarch
Watch website at www.monarchwatch.org and see what information
and resources are available.
NRPA is doing some exciting
things for monarch conservation,
and you will be hearing about them
in this magazine, through social media, NRPA's Open Space blog and
on our website. We also want to hear
what you are doing to save the monarch! Email Rich Dolesh, NRPA's
vice president of conservation and
parks, at rdolesh@nrpa.org.
Richard J. Dolesh is NRPA's Vice President of
Conservation and Parks (rdolesh@nrpa.org).

July 2015 - Parks & Recreation

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