“The National Butterfly Association’s Center, in partnership with the Lower Rio Grande Valley and Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuges, will create approximately 67 acres [27 hectares] of native nectar plant and milkweed habitat across Hidalgo County, Texas; significantly increase the availability of native milkweed seeds and plants by surveying and collecting on Refuge tracts; and build capacity for new monarch habitat through stakeholder workshops and pilot projects” (Edelen 2015).

Mission, TX, the location of the National Butterfly Center, will be the starting point for this south-Texas conservation campaign. Seedpods collected from the Lower Rio Grande Valley and Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuges will be used in gardens across the county, though the project will focus primarily on Mission, Pharr, San Juan and Alamo. Restoration won’t just be limited to Refuges (Silva 2015). The grant allows for planting to occur along highways, railways and medians throughout all of Hidalgo County. Large-scale restoration in high-traffic areas will be coupled with garden plantings in the city, and Mission has identified over 10 sites for gardens, including the Speer Memorial Library and multiple schools in the Pharr–San Juan–Alamo ISD (PSJA ISD 2015)..

• Edelen, T. 2015. 2015 Monarch Butterfly Conservation Fund Grant Slate. Southernmost Monarch Waystations, p. 2. nfwf.org/monarch/Documents/monarchgrants15-0925.pdf.
• Pharr–San Juan–Alamo Independent School District (PSJA ISD). 2015. PSJA ISD partners with National Butterfly Center to build Butterfly Gardens. Pharr–San Juan–Alamo Independent School District. psjaisd.us/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=4&ModuleInstanceID=16&ViewID=047E6BE3-6D87-4130-8424-D8E4E9ED6C2A&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=10728&PageID=1&GroupByField=DisplayDate&GroupYear=2015&GroupMonth=10&Tag=.
• Silva, J. 2015. Grant to Help National Butterfly Center Save Monarchs. Progress Times. progresstimes.net/news/local-news/7795-grant-to-help-national-butterfly-center-save-monarchs.html.