The Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) was a USDA NRCS program that has since been replaced with the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). Existing WRP contracts are unaffected (they are still valid but will be managed under ACEP regulations), and practices may be implemented on existing WRP lands using remaining WRP funds or new ACEP funds, or on new ACEP lands. Enrollment is based on funding availability (USDA NRCS 2015a; USDA NRCS 2015b). The Monarch Butterfly Habitat Development Project, which targets incentive programs, including the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program in the Midwest subregion, is emphasizing practices such as prescribed burning, disking and planting (milkweed and nectar plants). Specific funding in FY2016 is allocated for monarch habitat projects on existing WRP lands (USDA NRCS 2015a).
ACEP easements include those for agricultural lands and wetlands. NRCS provides direct financial payments and technical assistance to landowners. Wetlands reserve easements may be permanent (NRCS payment of 100% of the value and 75–100% of restoration costs) or 30-year/term (NRCS payment of 50–75% of the value and 50–75% of restoration costs). Easement fees (recording, abstracts, survey, appraisal and title insurance) are also covered by NRCS. Landowners and lands must also meet certain eligibility requirements. Wetland Reserve Enhancement Partnership (WREP) consists of agreements between NRCS and partners to complete restoration projects and can leverage funding, monitoring and technical assistance (USDA NRCS 2015c).
NRCS (2015a) has outlined specific National Conservation Practices, including “Core” practices like Conservation Cover (327), Prescribed Burning (338) and Early Successional Habitat Development/Management (647), that have the greatest potential to develop monarch habitat in the Midwest.
Landowners in Massachusetts can donate all or a portion of their property to permanently protect (Conservation Restriction) significant natural resources on their land, for compensation through Massachusetts’s Commonwealth Conservation Land Tax Credit (CLTC). The CLTC program administered by the state’s Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs offers tax credits of up to US$75,000 to landowners who donate their property to the program outright or through a Conservation Restriction.
The donated land must have high-value natural resources that are in the public interest, including “drinking water supplies, wildlife habitats and biological diversity, agricultural and forestry production, recreational opportunities, or land holding scenic and cultural values” (MEEA 2016). A three-part application process allows for pre-qualification determination first to ensure that land proposed for donation meets criteria for inclusion in the program. An appraisal of the land proposed for donation is submitted for part two, and part three of the application process requires a closing to finalize the donation.
“Most western monarchs migrate to specific overwintering locations along the Pacific coastline of California. To better understand the status of western monarchs and the condition of their California overwintering sites, the Xerces Society created a database with detailed information about hundreds of California monarch overwintering locations. Based on commonly recognized overwintering site characteristics, they developed a protocol to help quantify attributes that are critical to monarch overwintering survival. This tool will enable assessment of threats to monarch overwintering sites, document changes over time, and inform overwintering site restoration and management strategies.
To put their newly developed protocol and databases to the test, Xerces identified priority overwintering areas to visit and assess. They monitored 71 overwintering sites during the 2012/2013 overwintering season to estimate monarch abundance and assess the habitat. Xerces and Monarch Alert staff surveyed an additional 16 monarch overwintering sites on private lands during the 2013 Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count. Many of the privately owned sites that were monitored in 2013 gave ongoing permission for volunteers to return for an annual monarch count and habitat assessment. At each site, scientists are evaluating the condition of the overwintering habitat using the monarch habitat assessment protocol, conducting counts to estimate monarch abundance, collecting location and land ownership information, and determining potential threats to each site.
Monitoring sites were selected based on past cluster size, time since last visit, occurrence on public and private lands, and presence of native tree species. To aid land managers in monarch conservation, Xerces has developed land management guidelines for California overwintering groves. They are also targeting outreach efforts to citizen scientists, US Forest Service biologists, and others to encourage conservation of monarch breeding and overwintering sites. A new resource center for western monarch overwintering counts has been launched by the Xerces Society. This site provides information on how to participate in citizen efforts to count western overwintering monarchs and [will] provide an online portal to enter data collected by volunteers” (MJV 2015).
This draft report introduces Federal lands BMP guidance from the USDA and USDOI, directed toward US federal departments and agencies. It provides prescriptive information regarding pollinator habitat enhancement and persistence, as well as protection of pollinators in the course of habitat management. Recommendations are outlined for a range of land uses/land covers (LULCs), including forest, grassland, ROWs, shrub land, riparian and wildlife openings, and BMPs are discussed in the context of habitat objectives and their biological or ecological purposes.
Proposed key steps include information-gathering regarding existing habitat and habitat quality, existing or target pollinator species, and appropriate plant materials sources. BMPs also focus on adaptive management of habitat and public outreach. Recommendations are provided for activities such as restoration, revegetation, rehabilitation, and for reducing impacts from other land management activities. Certain habitat elements are targeted by these BMPs, including wildflower forage, butterfly host plants and overwintering refuges. Habitat attributes important to pollinators, and descriptions of pollinator behavior are described in some detail, referencing published research and research reviews.
Many recommendations focus on the distance between and arrangement and combination of habitats for multiple seasons and life stages, as well as the timing of specific actions to reduce impacts to pollinators. Most BMP types are applicable across LULCs, with recommendations specific to each indicated when appropriate. Targeted recommendations, such as maintaining forb diversity in wetlands and thinning forest understory habitat, are outlined for each habitat type. The formation of an interdisciplinary team is proposed as a first step to addressing pollinator and pollinator habitat management, including recommended consultation with expert entomologists, botanists, ecologists and wildlife biologists.
Outreach to both the public and to other agency staff is discussed as a strategy to ensure integrated land management and long-term benefits of BMPs. Monarch habitat is specifically, albeit briefly, addressed (USDA USDOI 2015).
US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Interior (USDA USDOI). 2015. Draft pollinator-friendly best management practices for federal lands. May 11, 2015. www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/BMPs/.
“According to a study on monarch oviposition on swallow-worts by Casagrande and Dacey (2007), female monarchs will lay eggs on black swallow-wort even when it is in the same field as common milkweed. Laboratory tests have shown that monarch caterpillars cannot feed on black swallow-wort meaning swallow-worts act as dead-end hosts and those eggs are essentially wasted. As if that was not enough, black swallow-wort also comes with all the bad attributes and symptoms of most invasive species such as reduction of biological diversity, crowding out native milkweeds, invading open grasslands, and allelopathy. All of these affects [sic] hinder not only the monarch population, but the grass nesting birds, insect diversity, and the overall ecological integrity of any environment in which it exists. Luckily this problem is being recognized and actions are beginning to take place.”
The Central Upper Peninsula Cooperative Weed Management Area, with funding from Monarch Joint Venture, is studying treatment methods for black swallow-wort at Peninsula Point in the western Hiawatha National Forest. “The treatments being tested will be the mechanical pulling of swallow-wort and the use of prescribed burns. The Forest Service is planning to establish test plots where the effectiveness of treatment methods can be monitored and analyzed for effectiveness. This project will be important in protecting a sensitive monarch breeding and research site at Peninsula Point and provide a model for future control of these species in the crucial corn-belt breeding range for eastern North American monarchs” (MJV 2015).
“The Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium is a community-led organization whose mission is to enhance monarch butterfly reproduction and survival in Iowa through collaborative and coordinated efforts of farmers, private citizens and their organizations. The Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium is composed of state-based organizations that agree on a common goal to enhance the monarch butterfly’s reproduction across the state by supporting the propagation of breeding habitat through research, education and direct action.
The Consortium’s research effort will establish a sound scientific foundation for Iowa’s monarch butterfly conservation. The consortium’s extension and outreach program will draw upon all the member organizations to ensure the broad delivery of practical, science-based information on monarch butterfly conservation practices for Iowa’s landscapes. Habitat improvements in rural landscapes will target underutilized areas that do not conflict with agricultural production, are sufficient in scale to support improved monarch breeding success, and strive to complement other conservation programs” (Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium 2015).
“ITC is committed to improving monarch habitat through the enhancement of pre-existing habitat and the establishment of new habitat on the company’s landholdings. Regular vegetation management within the transmission corridors is required to ensure the safe transmission of electricity to homes and businesses. ITC uses an Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) approach in many of its corridors which limits the growth of trees and non-native species while promoting native plant diversity including milkweed species. Flora and fauna surveys are conducted annually in several of these managed corridors to document the success of the IVM program and increased diversity of plant species critical to monarchs and other pollinator species.
Over 100 acres [40 hectares] in Iowa and approximately 275 acres [111 hectares] in Michigan are monitored for monarchs through the IVM program. In addition to promoting existing milkweed and other native plant populations within the IVM monitored transmission corridors, ITC is also actively establishing new milkweed populations within the company’s landholdings” (Weiskotten 2016).
Transportation ROWs and roadsides have been identified as crucial spots to restore habitat. State Departments of Transportation are becoming increasingly aware of the plight of pollinators and are taking action to protect pollinator roadside habitat. The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) is one of the nation’s leaders in pollinator roadside protection, even starting a statewide movement called “Saving Ohio’s Pollinators.” The project began on a small scale in 2013 so the ODOT could “learn how to do it right” (Sarikonda 2015).
The Ohio Prairie Nursery aided the ODOT in designing a native prairie seed mix, which was then used to plant two 0.4-hectare (1-acre) pollinator habitat test plots along a highway in Ohio. These pollinator plots were extremely successful and resulted in the creation of planting guidelines by the ODOT. The guide outlines basic site preparation and maintenance, and includes a plant list of the seed mix used for the roadside restorations. The ODOT is currently involved in locating quality areas of milkweed habitat along roadsides and creating No Mow signs to indicate and protect these milkweed patches (Sarikonda 2015). An important part of this initiative is the role of farmers and private landowners.
Farmers are often concerned about milkweed growing in or around their fields. ODOT realizes this and is making concerted efforts to reach out to farmers and other private landowners to get their input on the restoration activities. As a result of these important conversations and outreach, ODOT has modified its seed mixes to not include species that spread aggressively, like common milkweed (A. syriaca), for restoration projects adjacent to farm fields. It is important to note that the majority of people doing the actual restoration with ODOT are volunteers.
Seventeen states (Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington and Virginia) have all added the monarch butterfly as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in their State Wildlife Action Plan revision in October of 2015. “The State Wildlife Action Plans are important tools for the management of wildlife diversity and non-game species in each state” (AFWA 2015). The Species of Greatest Conservation Need list encompasses species that are rare or imperiled—like the monarch butterfly—and need special conservation actions to ensure the species survival.
“The Lower Colorado River Authority serves customers and communities throughout Texas by managing the lower Colorado River; generating and transmitting electric power; ensuring a clean, reliable water supply; and offering access to nature at more than 40 parks, recreation areas and river access sites along the Texas Colorado River, from the Hill Country to the Gulf Coast” (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 2015). In keeping with the LCRA’s goal of offering access to nature, the LCRA plans to create an ongoing plan outlining conservation management activities on LCRA lands in the lower Colorado River Basin.
These management activities will include “management and native vegetation planting to enhance monarch/native pollinator habitat” (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 2015). In addition to planting milkweed and nectar plants, the LCRA will ensure that they “implement holistic land management practices that include appropriate monarch or native pollinator habitat restoration” (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 2015), including removal of non-native species from seed mixes. To inspire other agencies to take part in pollinator conservation, the LCRA will establish two demonstration gardens at the natural science centers located at McKinney Roughs Nature Park and Matagorda Bay Nature Park.
Through interpretive signage at the demo sites, distribution of milkweed field guides, “civic group presentations, workshops, and field days” (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 2015), the LCRA will educate other organizations about native plants and the importance of monarch and pollinator conservation. Finally, the LCRA commits to stay involved in monarch conservation through participation “in high-level dialogue with NGOs and state agencies to promote monarch and native pollinator conservation efforts” (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department 2015).
“The Monarch Flyway Network is a partnership between the US Forest Service International Programs and the University of Minnesota Monarch Lab. It brings together teachers, non-formal science educators, and scientists to study monarchs and build lasting collaborations along the monarchs’ migration flyway route to Mexico. A key goal of the Monarch Flyway Network is to promote a standards- and inquiry-based approach to science, by encouraging and supporting ongoing engagement in conservation and research activities.
Network members study monarch biology and ecology, engage in citizen monitoring programs (the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project, tagging, Journey North, and Monarch Health), study the plants and animals with which monarchs interact in the wild, and create schoolyard habitats to support monarchs and other pollinators. These activities are supported during an intensive summer workshop, followed by ongoing communication and networking” (Monarch Lab 2015).
“In its first five years, the North American Monarch Institute was an effective collaboration between the US Forest Service and the University of Minnesota to promote monarch education and monarch conservation practices. These monarch habitats and experts are located across the United States. North American Monarch Institutes have now been held in six different cities across the nation. Communities of educators in St. Paul, MN, Chicago, IL, Washington, DC, Atlanta, GA, Milwaukee, WI, and Denver, CO engaged in rigorous lessons and activities that promoted better understanding of science skills, monarch biology, citizen science, and schoolyard ecology. Bolstering the Monarch Flyway Network with experienced educators will ensure that NAMI concepts will continue to empower students and communities to engage in monarch education and conservation” (Monarch Lab 2015; Bunney 2016).
West Virginia’s Conservation Agency (WVCA), in partnership with the state’s Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), provides cost-share assistance to install habitat for pollinators, for agricultural landowners in West Virginia’s Guyan District. Under the WVCA’s Agricultural Enhancement Program, agricultural landowners or lessees can receive financial incentives through the Pollinator Habitat program to enhance or establish habitat that benefits pollinators (WVCA 2015a).
Goals of the program are to “(1) provide food and habitat for pollinators to help them thrive; (2) increase production per acre in farming situations;” and (3) increase biodiversity (WVCA 2015b). The program offers a maximum cost-share of US$445 flat rate for up to 0.4 hectares (1 acre) of pollinator habitat created based on best management practices (BMPs) for pollinators. To be eligible, landowners must be signed up as a Guyan District co-operator, have a soil pH of 5.8 or greater and a “current soil test that is less than 3 years of the date the practice is requested.”
“The Xerces Society conducts a wide array of educational workshops for various audiences important to protecting the monarch migration. Training land managers, federal [and state] agency staff and citizen science monitors in key regions is essential to long term habitat restoration and conservation” (MJV 2015). The Xerces Society conducts monarch conservation short courses that focus on breeding and overwintering site management.
These courses educate land managers and citizen scientists about monarch identification, biology, status, habitat requirements, citizen science efforts and best management practices for enhancing and restoring breeding and overwintering sites in the western US. “The Xerces Society has also teamed up with other western monarch experts to organize and host workshops to train citizen scientists to monitor monarch overwintering sites. The workshops include training on how to count monarch clusters and estimate the monarch population size at a specific site, how to utilize the habitat assessment protocol, as well as information on monarch biology and migration.
They invigorate current citizen scientists, and engage new ones in monarch monitoring in important overwintering habitat areas. Current Xerces efforts have been planned to educate federal agency staff working in natural areas in key breeding areas of the Western US. While there is a need to establish new monarch habitats, it is important to also ensure that existing monarch habitat is protected. In the breeding range of the smaller western monarch population, there is a significant amount of milkweed on federally managed lands.
Targeting education efforts towards federal staff to effectively protect, restore, and monitor these habitats is a priority of the Xerces and MJV. Through partnerships with federal agencies and ongoing education efforts, we can work together to ensure that the management strategies employed on publicly owned lands are compatible with the survival and recovery of monarch populations” (MJV 2015).