Funding for Monarch butterfly, pollinator conservation announced

“We’ve all experienced the moment of excitement when we spot a monarch butterfly fluttering through the air. If we allow the iconic western monarch butterfly to go extinct, we will not only lose this beautiful species, but a critical pollinator forever,” said Merkley, who secured the federal funding as chair of the Senate Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee. “Groups and communities across Oregon and across the West are stepping up to find sustainable solutions, from planting pollinator-friendly gardens in their yards to providing resources and habitats for them.”

“Monarch butterflies are crucial pollinators on the West Coast, where much of America’s food is grown,” Wyden said.

The money is part of $5.2 million in grants awarded by the NFWF’s Pollinator Fund for projects to conserve monarch butterflies and other insect pollinators in 24 states.

In Oregon, funds will be distributed as follows:

$458,810 for the Pollinator Partnership, to support Partner Biologists in planning climate-smart voluntary conservation efforts for private working lands that benefit the monarch butterfly and other pollinators across Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. This is expected to restore 100 acres, improve 500 acres, develop 80 conservation plans, reach 720 people, and host 30 events.

$300,000 for The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, to sustain their Monarch and Pollinator Habitat Kit Program that supports monarch butterfly and other pollinators on public and private lands in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregions, eastern Washington, and California. This expected to improve 500 acres, reach 200 people and host 16 events.

Both efforts are critical, as the western monarch population has declined over 95%, from as many as 10 million in the 1980s, to just over 233,000 counted last winter.

These low populations are dangerous for humans, as 75% of the world’s flowering plants, and about 35% of the world’s food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce.

Merkley’s efforts include hosting Monarch Butterfly Summits in partnership with the Department of the Interior, the first of which announced a $1 million investment in the NFWF Pollinator Fund and established a Pollinator Conservation Center at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Merkley also introduced and passed the bipartisan Monarch and Pollinator Highway Act introduced the Pollinator Power Act, which would incentivize pollinator habitats surrounding new solar projects carried out through the Rural Energy for America Program. Merkley is also behind the MONARCH Act and the Pollinator-Friendly Plant Labeling Act, both cosponsored by Wyden.