Monarch Butterfly

In this Habitat Tip, we look at the miracle that is associated with the annual monarch butterfly migration. It happens all around us, but you may have never fully realized just how incredible an event it really is.

Through Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW), the NRCS has created a win-win model of private lands conservation that benefits wildlife and people that now includes conservation efforts focused on 19 diverse landscapes in 48 states.

A new guide, produced through a partnership between public university extension programs in the Great Plains, the USDA-NRCS’s Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW), the USDA-NRCS’s Central National Technology Support Center (CNTSC), and various other conservation partners, provides the first-ever framework for addressing woody encroachment, now recognized as one of the top two drivers of grassland loss in the Great Plains.

It's that time of the year again ... time to celebrate the year's last generation of monarch butterflies as they prepare to migrate to central Mexico.& ...

Milkweed is one of the best plants to have in your pollinator habitat — Conservation Blueprint's Pete Berthelsen shows you how to grow your own milkweed from seeds.

When designing your next pollinator habitat project, make sure that you are designing the seed mixture to include the combination of plants that meet your objectives.& ...

The Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund has produced a new guide that offers you step-by-step instructions and examples of how to produce great pollinator habitat.

As milkweed, the sole host plant for monarch butterflies, has diminished across the landscape, so have population numbers for the iconic butterfly.

Conservation Blueprint's Peter Berthelsen explains how agricultural land and pollinator habits impact each other, and can work together, in this Habitat Tip.

Conservation Blueprint's Peter Berthelsen explains how to manage grasses within your pollinator habitat to encourage wildflower growth and habitat diversity, in this Habitat Tip.

In order to conserve the monarch migration in North America, scientists need a thorough understanding of all aspects of this phenomenal journey.

Our ecoregional planting guides, Selecting Plants for Pollinators, are tailored to specific areas of the United States. You can find out which ecoregion you live in and get your free guide Starting on Page 16 of the planting guides you can find lists of plant names that will attract pollinators and help you build beautiful pollinator habitat! Print these lists and bring them to your local native plant, garden center or nursery.

Our ecoregional planting guides, Selecting Plants for Pollinators, are tailored to specific areas of the United States. You can find out which ecoregion you live in and get your free guide Starting on Page 16 of the planting guides you can find lists of plant names that will attract pollinators and help you build beautiful pollinator habitat! Print these lists and bring them to your local native plant, garden center or nursery.

Our ecoregional planting guides, Selecting Plants for Pollinators, are tailored to specific areas of the United States. You can find out which ecoregion you live in and get your free guide Starting on Page 16 of the planting guides you can find lists of plant names that will attract pollinators and help you build beautiful pollinator habitat! Print these lists and bring them to your local native plant, garden center or nursery.

The Milkweed Mission tracks the amazing year-long path of North America's main Monarch butterfly migration, documenting threats from logging and community conservation challenges in the winter reserves in Michoacán, Mexico to loss of essential pollinators and milkweeds due to droughts, climate change and chemical agriculture across the U.S ...

Meet Dr. Francis Villablanca, a professor at Cal Poly University,  and learn about the amazing migration and life of the Monarch Butterfly, and the technology that is used to track these butterflies over thousands of miles.

Every year, monarchs from as far away as Idaho , Utah, Arizona and other Western states converge to spend the winter in tree groves along the Pacific coast and at a few inland sites.

The Monarch Conservation Implementation Plan was derived from the North American Monarch Conservation Plan (CEC, 2008), and is updated annually by the Monarch Joint Venture (MJV), a national conservation partnership currently consisting of over 50 organizations working together to conserve the monarch migration.

Good for butterflies, good for your bottom line.

The monarch butterfly Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurance with integrated Candidate Conservation Agreement for energy and transportation lands is a remarkable opportunity to help the monarch and other pollinators.

Conservation Blueprint's Peter Berthelsen explains how pumpkins and pollinators interact, in this seasonal Habitat Tip.

Sagebrush rangelands once covered nearly 250 million acres in western North America. Today, this landscape has been reduced to half its original size and is rapidly shrinking.

Rural Americans matter—a lot—to the fate of U.S. environmental policy. Not only do farmers, ranchers, and forest owners manage huge portions of American lands and watersheds, but rural voters also have an outsized impact on national policy.

For many years the Service has worked with partners to help them develop Candidate Conservation Agreements (CCAs). CCAs primarily have been developed by Federal agencies to cover Federal lands, and several have resulted in conservation efforts that made listing unnecessary.

Little was known about monarch butterflies in the Southwest region of the United States but new studies reveal a modest population with promising conservation implications.

A well-designed seed mix is an essential component of any native habitat restoration project. The seeds we use in each mix ultimately define the character of restored vegetation, and determine how well a restoration project can meet its goals.

Monarchs migrate through the southern Great Plains in the spring and fall, and also reproduce in this region in the spring and late summer/early fall.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received a petition to list the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on August 26, 2014.

The monarch is more than one butterfly. Think of it as an ambassador to a mosaic of prairie plants and animals that all need soil, sun and time to grow.

The monarch butterfly is in trouble

Check what voters selected this design by artist Rick Sinnett for the Nature Conservancy’s monarch license plate, which will raise funds for pollinators.& ...

This paper analyzes surveys of private landowners to identify factors that determine landowner engagement in the conservation of endangered species.

How does one go about donating or selling a conservation easement.? There is no one right way to go about it. However, the following outline shows the most common steps to the process.

Thomas Daniels and John Keene's new book breaks down the legal principles, federal and state requirements, and the legal issues that affect agricultural land preservation efforts.