“The Honey Bee and Monarch Butterfly Partnership is forged out of a desire to create diverse, high-quality upland habitat, especially in the wake of recent grassland habitat loss in the Dakotas. Not only do North Dakota and South Dakota harbor the top two wild pheasant populations in the country, but they are two of the top three honey producing states. Honey producers and landowners are working side-by-side to promote this innovative program” (Pheasants Forever 2015). The partnership works with stakeholders to enroll private landowners in pollinator conservation activities, including the planting of milkweed and nectar plants for monarchs.

The program requires a high standard of seed mix for restoration sites, and offers planting incentives for participating landowners. In partnership with NFWF as part of this program, “Pheasants Forever will […] facilitate 40 unique demonstration sites, habitat tours, workshops, and additional outreach events to engage private landowners in monarch conservation. The project will restore or enhance 1,060 acres [429 hectares] of high quality monarch habitat by enrolling private and public lands into the Honey Bee and Monarch Butterfly Partnership” (Edelen 2015). The program was also selected for funding by the USDA NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program, to expand conservation activities by implementing an estimated 2,900 projects covering 14,500 acres (5,868 hectares) with restored habitat in Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and primarily Nebraska.

• Edelen, T. 2015. 2015 Monarch Butterfly Conservation Fund Grant Slate. Honey Bee and Monarch Butterfly Partnership in the Central Flyway, 2. www.nfwf.org/monarch/Documents/monarchgrants15-0925.pdf.
• Pheasants Forever. 2015. Tops for Pheasants & Pollinators, Honey Bee and Monarch Butterfly Partnership Targets Upland Habitat in the Dakotas. pheasantsforever.org/Newsroom/2015-April/Tops-for-Pheasants-Pollinators,-Honey-Bee-and-Mona.aspx.

Keywords: conservation, milkweed, monarch flyway, pollinators, private lands