As with many pollinators, monarch butterfly populations have been declining in recent years due to a number of factors.
But local towns like Trenton and Lamoine have been stepping up to help the butterflies by signing the National Wildlife Federation’s Mayors’ Monarch Pledge.
Towns that sign the pledge commit to taking certain steps during the year to make their towns more pollinator-friendly, such as growing pollinator gardens, hosting butterfly festivals and changing mowing practices in public areas.
“The National Wildlife Federation makes it very easy for towns to enroll in the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge,” said Larissa Thomas, chair of the Lamoine Conservation Commission. “Their website outlines the process. Participants can decide among a number of different types of projects to undertake, and you can start small, or go big like we did in Lamoine — we implemented 10 action items right out of the gate.”
Lamoine has partnered with educators and has received generous donations from local businesses during the past year to help monarchs make a comeback.
“This was a true team effort, and it was successful beyond my wildest dreams,” Thomas said.
Since signing the pledge, volunteers from Lamoine have created more pollinator-safe spaces, hosted milkweed seed giveaways, seedling sales and educational workshops for adults and students alike.
Thomas said that the new garden installed near Lamoine Town Hall, complete with 10-foot-high mammoth sunflowers, has been particularly popular with people and monarchs alike.
“[It’s] helped sell the message that ecologically conscious landscaping does not require sacrificing beauty.”
In Trenton, volunteers led by Barbara Acosta, the coordinator of the Trenton Butterfly Gardens, have also been hard at work since Trenton signed the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge in 2022. Over the past 2 years, volunteers have installed new pollinator gardens, hosted workshops and plant swaps and offered educational lectures.
Most notably, Trenton’s volunteers started the annual Trenton Butterfly Festival where raffles, pollinator costumes, a parade, and lots of fun pollinator-inspired activities delight visitors. If you want to attend, this year’s festival will be held on July 13, at the Trenton Town Office.
Like Thomas, Barb Acosta described the process that she took to encourage Trenton to sign the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge as relatively straightforward.
“I wrote to my town’s board of selectmen asking them to sign,” Acosta said. “Almost immediately I got a call from one of the members of the select board asking me to make a presentation at their next meeting. So I quickly threw together a PowerPoint, made a 10-minute presentation, and they voted unanimously to sign on”
So how can you help pollinators? Starting your own pollinator garden is always a good option. But you can also help by supporting local organizations that are doing their part to help monarchs and by attending events like the Trenton Butterfly Festival and sharing the events with your friends.
If you dream of doing even more to support monarchs, consider asking your own town to sign the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge. The pledge period runs from December to March, so you have some time to prepare.
When it comes to safeguarding monarchs, small steps can lead to big progress. But our local volunteers who have been working to save monarchs and support the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge are already seeing the results.
“I hope that we have moved the needle in people’s consciousness about supporting wildlife,” Thomas said. “But I know for sure that we have made Lamoine even more lovely.”
