Craig Oveson, AKA CraigTheButterflyman.com , is a well known monarch butterfly and pollinator scientist, conservationist, and educator. Craig is the founder of the fast growing 800,000+ member organization of monarch butterfly and pollinator conservationists website-EBook www.CraigtheButterflyMan.com. We offer proven programs, approved by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, that you can start and/or be part of in your community that will teach you how you and your friends can help increase monarch and pollinator populations in your community. If you will GOOGLE: "Craig The Butterfly man" you will see many links about what we do and teach and then come back to this page to find out how you can further help restore the monarch butterfly migration population in your community.
This website-EBook, these programs, and our educational "groups", are free of charge. Depending on how involved you and your friends want to be in our cause and movement, you may want to purchase some of the supplies we recommend you to use, although it only takes things you probably already have around your house to participate in some of our programs.
Beginning to restore the monarch butterfly migration, other pollinator populations, and our entire wildlife food chain would be as easy as the U. S. and North America as a whole returning to farming methods used prior to the 1990's and banning the use of GMO seeds and most pesticides and herbicides like glyphosate that's found in Round Up and other brands.
Our government has the power to ban these chemicals with the stroke of a pen not involving congress. By returning to traditional sustainable farming methods, our landscapes will start to recover as soon as the use of these products is banned. Of course, we would have a more healthy food supply and many more monarchs and pollinators to enjoy.
Our current United States administration has the ability to ban these products. The new administration has made it clear they will ban these chemicals that are unsafe for us and our wildlife. Call your Congressional representatives and ask them to do this.
A) Why did U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determine that 250 monarchs or less was defined as small scale collection and rearing?
B) We considered existing research on the benefits and costs of captive-breeding, rearing, disease, citizen science, and environmental education to determine what level of captive-rearing would qualify as large-scale rearing and have the potential to negatively impact monarch populations.
C) Our analysis concluded that that the overall impact of collecting, possessing, captively rearing, releasing, and selling fewer than 250 individual monarchs at one location or facility (e.g., home, botanical garden, school, or business) is not expected to negatively affect conservation and recovery efforts for the monarch butterfly. If handling greater than 250 monarchs in a given year, you will need to apply for a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
D) In some cases, state natural resource agencies and local governments have their own monarch butterfly rules and regulations. This can include prohibitions on importation and/or interstate movement, captively rearing, and releasing monarch butterflies. You may need a state permit for scientific collection or educational activities. Please check with your state-specific and local agencies for more information.
E) A permit from USDA-Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is required for the importation, interstate movement, and environmental release of butterflies, including monarchs. In addition, APHIS does not allow the movement of monarchs across the Continental Divide for environmental release. In Canada you can raise up to 60 monarchs per season with permit
F) This is the U S Fish and Wildlife Service listing proposal video https://youtu.be/OcMiw70sQ90?si=vPET5fS5hkpU9EBb
1A) PLEASE REMEMBER, What you will learn on this page and on this website doesn't need to cost you anything to do yet it is one of the most valuable and rewarding things you will do in your life. If you have a yard, patio, or deck. a shovel, and an empty gallon milk jug you can improve your surroundings with beautiful and necessary pollinator plants. You will learn how to protect and watch the miracle of monarch eggs becoming adult monarchs.
1B) Increasing the populations of all of the wildlife all around us doesn't require much money it only requires your desire, efforts, and some dedication to improving your surroundings through improving what you already have around you .
1C) You will be paid for your efforts through enjoying a more beautiful environment where you live and you will have pride in knowing you helped your environment succeed. You can nurture your passion part-time and actually make it a way to supplement your income by doing something you love.
1D) www.CraigTheButterflyman.com has built a fast growing 800,000+ member organization of monarch butterfly and pollinator conservationists Facebook groups website. Craig the Butterfly man believes that everyone has the potential to be an educated valuable monarch butterfly and pollinator conservationist.
1E) For those of you reading this that are already educated and practicing monarch and pollinator conservationists our LEADERS PROGRAM page on this organization's website gives every monarch butterfly conservationist the blueprint to be a leader in their community to help restore the monarch butterfly migration if that's your goal. Remember, if you want to participate in the LEADERS PROGRAM described on this website it doesn't need to cost you any money to be part of our cause and movement to restore and improve our environment.
1E) The Leaders Program page shows you many ways to participate. The best way to participate is to interest the owner and/or manager of a privately owned garden center in your community to make their business a hub for monarch and pollinator conservation.
1F) The desire to improve and increase their business is the owner/managers motive to help you help improve our environment. The garden center has the location and plants our monarchs and other pollinators thrive on. You can inform the owner/manager "YOU WILL SELL MORE PLANTS WITH OUR LEADERS PROGRAM OPERATING IN THEIR GARDEN CENTER AS A PROFIT CENTER. THE EDUCATIONAL LIVE BUTTERFLY SANCTUARY EXHIBIT EXPERIENCE WILL ATTRACT NEW CUSTOMERS TO YOUR GARDEN CENTER INTO SEPTEMBER EXTENDING YOUR PLANT SELLING SEASON. PLANTING FOR POLLINATORS EXTENDS INTO THE FALL AND IT DOESN'T COST YOU ANYTHING TO FIND OUT".
1G) You can approach the owner of a private garden center in your community any time of the year. As a monarch and pollinator conservationist , inform them you would like to help them improve their business and it won't cost them anything to find out. Inform them you have a passion for improving the landscapes in your community so there will be more monarch butterflies and pollinators for everyone to enjoy.
1H) Inform them you would like to spend some time getting to know their business and help them attract more customers to their business without them having to invest any money or time from them or their employees. Share the LEADERS PROGRAM page on this website with them.
1I) Just ask them to ask the Google assistant PLEASE FIND CRAIG THE BUTTERFLY MAN LEADERS PROGRAM" Ask them to read about the program and watch the videos. Inform them you will provide them with the necessary equipment for their garden center described on the website for the program at no charge or expense to them in any way.
1J) The garden center will already be selling pollinator plants that cost the owner $ 8-10 a per plant to purchase before they sell them. You can inform the manager/owner you will supply pollinator plants for them to sell and the plants will cost them only $1 each for 1 gallon perennial pollinator plants . Note; You will learn how and be able to propagate plants at your home for under $1 each will very little effort. I will explain how below. The owner/manager will be impressed with your enthusiasm to help and may start raising some plants himself at their garden center.
1K) Once they have the information about the LEADERS PROGRAM you should follow up with them to see if they read the information and explain to them, "I will pay for the educational live butterfly sanctuary exhibit and and other supplies needed for the program. If the program is working for you you can pay me for the exhibit and the other supplies if you like, and if they don't want it there you will take down the exhibit ". This will never happen unless they want to take it down for the winter. However you/they can continue to propagate plants in this portable greenhouse/live butterfly exhibit even if its too cold for butterflies to be outside if you heat the greenhouse..
1L) You can approach the owner of a private garden center in your community any time of the year. As a monarch and pollinator conservationist. Take one of the netted pop up hatcheries shown on the LEADERS PROGRAM page of this website with you. Open it up and inform them you will put one of those hatcheries inside their garden center with monarchs and other butterflies stages of development in it for your customers to learn from and enjoy.
1M) Inform them you would like to help them improve their business and it won't cost them anything. Inform them you have a passion for improving the landscapes in your community so there will be more monarch butterflies and pollinators for everyone to enjoy.
1O) Ask them to read about the program and watch the videos. Inform them you will provide them with the necessary equipment for their garden center described on the leaders program page at no charge or expense to them in any way.
1P) Explain the program won't require any of their employees time other than them recommending pollinator plants for customers to put in their yards. Tell them you will actually provide them with perennial pollinator plants for $1 each for a 1 gallon plant they can sell retail for the price they want Note: I will explain below how you can produce these plants for under $1 per plant .
1Q ) In a couple days you will go back to the garden center with the pop up hatchery then follow up with them and answer their questions and build a relationship with them. The garden center can provide a place for the educational live butterfly sanctuary exhibit for monarch and pollinator conservationists in your community to get stock plants to propagate for their yard or deck and their friends and neighbors yards, patios, and decks. The garden center will attract new customers that will help their business succeed.
1R) The garden center is also a great place to have gatherings and have monarchs and other species of butterflies releases. and share eggs and caterpillars with people to take home so they can experience the miracle of watching monarchs become butterflies. You can also propagate monarch and pollinator plants at home and provide them to the garden center. The garden center can sell them at a reasonable price to those people who want to put them in their yards and patios to help our butterflies and provide them with the enjoyment of having butterflies and other pollinators in their yards. You can multiply your native plants almost FREE ! Read on to find out more about propagating plants. Of course there';s a lot online about this. Google "monarch mania" for a lot of info.
2) Everyone wants to see the monarch butterfly migrations increase on the monarchs eastern and western range in North America so they can experience more monarchs and pollinators in their lives. The migration is a spectacular miracle of the natural world. Unfortunately humans have diminished the monarch migration and other pollinator populations by destroying much of their habitat with chemicals that have been used across our landscapes. They are destroying all of our insects which are the basis for our wildlife and our food chain.
With a little effort from a lot of people we can restore much of their habitat and populations. Almost everyone will help if we can teach them how and that's what we do here. We will learn to teach others. Propagating and planting the host plants that already exist on our landscapes as food sources for the caterpillars and nectar sources for the adult monarch butterflies and other pollinators is almost free and very important to add monarchs to the monarch migrations, all pollinators, and wildlife in general to our landscapes.
3) Helping more monarch eggs avoid predators through their early vulnerable life stages of development and watch them reach a healthy in-flight adult stage for release into the wild is an educational, immediate, viable, and safe way to increase these migrations population numbers if done correctly. Unfortunately the monarch migration/predator populations are out of balance and the UNNATURAL and natural predators are winning the battle. Pesticides, insecticides, herbicides including Roundup, and imported invasive red fire ants are holding down the monarch butterfly, pollinator, and many other wildlife populations. You can help monarchs become adults so they can avoid these predators and chemicals.
4) Everyone agrees 95% + of the monarch eggs laid in the wild don't reach the adult in-flight stage because natural and unnatural predators consume them. The natural predators are also necessary to feed our entire wildlife food chain. The more monarch eggs we protect until they are adults and release them to breed and lay eggs, the more monarchs there are and the more the wildlife food chain gets fed. Predators eat predators that eat predators up the food chain until that progression reaches our food supply. Protecting eggs as taught on the RAISE MONARCHS page of this website has been practiced by thousands of monarch conservationist who release HEALTHY monarchs that wouldn't have existed without our help protecting them.
5) Unfortunately, GOOGLE: "non native imported invasive red fire ants" continue to invade and multiply in the warm climates in the U S including California and have been reducing the monarch migration populations to almost nothing when monarchs return from Mexico and lay eggs. Research at the University of Texas San Antonio proved in a study conducted in 2016-17, 87% of the development immature stages of the monarchs development are consumed by these imported invasive fire ants that have no predators so their population keeps multiplying. The remaining 100's of species of natural predators consumes most of the other 13% of monarch immatures. These fire ants are also consuming high percentages of other small immature wildlife throughout the warmer climates in North America diminishing wildlife populations in general.
6) This predation results in not enough monarchs reaching the summer breeding grounds in the Midwest and Northeast, and Canada to multiply monarchs enough over the next few generations to produce a sustainable 6 hectare population of monarchs that make it to Mexico to overwinter. These same monarchs produce the next migration generation in the spring when they return to Texas and the Southern U S and are again confronted by these predators. This is what continues to hold down the monarch population every year.
7) These low numbers of overwintering monarchs creates what is called a GOOGLE: POSSIBLE MONARCH EXTINCTION (PE) event as described by U S FISH AND WILDLIFE that could occur anytime wiping out the monarch migration population if they all freeze in Mexico. Large numbers of monarchs overwintering in Mexico prevents them from all freezing. It's more likely a small overwintering population will freeze the entire population.
As explained below, we've planted plenty of native milkweed across the country to have increased the monarch population tremendously. However, the average monarch migration population continues to decrease having the 2nd lowest number of monarchs overwintering in Mexico in the last 34 years just this year .9 hectares in 2024. Of course we should keep planting milkweed and other perennial pollinator plants because there can never be too much plant habitat for our pollinators to thrive on. It appears by the large numbers of milkweeds we're planting, planting milkweed alone isn't the solution. We need to keep planting nectar sources throughout North America so monarhs will have plenty of food while the monarchs move around North America. If everyone does their part and plants their yards and patios they will see more monarchs and other pollinators.
8) THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE TELLING US TO JUST LEAVE THE MONARCHS ALONE, THE LOW NUMBERS ARE A PRODUCT OF "NATURAL SELECTION". PEOPLE TEACHING PEOPLE TO LEAVE MONARCH EGGS IN THE WILD TO DEVELOP HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NATURAL SELECTION. IMMATURE MONARCHS ARE NOT CHOSEN TO BE EATEN BY PREDATORS BECAUSE OF UNUSUAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OR PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENTS AS NATURAL SELECTION IMPLIES. MONARCHS ARE EATEN BECAUSE THE PREDATORS SEE AND EAT THEM. SOMETIMES NONE OF THEIR PREDATORS SEE SOME OF THEM WHILE THEY ARE DEVELOPING THROUGH THEIR VULNERABLE STAGES TO BE ADULTS SO THEY CAN FLY AWAY FROM THEIR PREDATORS, BREED, AND PRODUCE ANOTHER GENERATION.
9) All monarch immature stages of development are vulnerable to consumption by predators because they have no way to protect themselves and their parents don't stay around to protect them and have no way to protect them even if they were around. If a monarch egg makes it to the butterfly stage in the wild it's nothing more than they were lucky and didn't get eaten. It doesn't alter their genetics by helping monarch eggs survive to the adult butterfly stage so they're not consumed by predators in their immature vulnerable stages. We are merely keeping the monarch eggs, laid by monarchs that have migrated to our area, away from predators so more of those eggs can survive through their immature life stages to be butterflies. When released these butterflies breed, lay eggs, and increase the migration population by an average of 15 monarchs for every monarch we release that lays their normal average of 300 eggs, These monarchs pollinate plants and the 285 eggs that don't make it to be butterflies feed the entire wildlife food chain with the immature stages of their development. These numbers demonstrate protecting more monarch eggs gives us more monarchs. to enjoy. This is nothing more than common sense.-++++++
10) With all the natural and mostly unnatural conditions monarchs and pollinators have to live in, if we want more monarchs to enjoy, it's up to us to help, but we must protect them properly and release HEALTHY monarchs into the migration.
11) Some people in North America with good intentions raise monarchs under unhealthy conditions without them knowing they're doing it. . Some monarchs that mature in captivity and/or even in the wild have been invaded by a debilitating parasite called OE. When we protect monarch eggs in conditions without this parasite present, laid by parents without this parasite on their bodies, in other words, in conditions where this parasite DOESN'T exist, they become healthy adults that when released are able to breed with other healthy monarchs in the wild and produce healthy eggs that develop into healthy adults. Those monarchs can go on and produce more healthy monarchs to add to the monarch migration population that will be able to migrate to Mexico in the fall, etc. We will teach you how to avoid raising unhealthy monarchs below.
12) This OE parasite exists in the wild whether we release HEALTHY monarchs or not. A small percentage of monarchs are going to be invaded by this parasite and transfer it to other monarchs in the wild in the migration population. It is necessary, as citizen scientists and monarch conservationists, that we don't contribute to this natural relationship between monarchs and OE by releasing monarchs into the population with this debilitating disease if we want to increase the monarch butterfly population. We all love to see more of these beautiful creatures of nature in our gardens and everywhere in our daily lives during the spring, summer, and fall months. The Butterfly Lady teaches us how to check monarchs for OE and what to do if they have it on their bodies. GOOGLE: "Butterfly Lady: What is OE"
13) Like many other creatures we love to have in our lives, we need to be sure our monarchs are healthy. We take our dogs and cats and other animals to veterinarians on a regular basis to get them checked to see if they're healthy.
14) In the case of monarchs there should be a place in your community where we can take our monarchs that we helped become adults that will check them for the debilitating parasite OE for FREE. These are actually the same place you can get food for your monarchs that helps them be healthy and reproduce; your local garden center. There's at least one garden center in every community.
15) The people working at the garden centers would love to check your monarchs for OE, unlike veterinarians, for FREE. Of course, your local garden center can advise you what to plant in your yards and/or on your patios in pots that will keep our monarchs and other pollinator friends coming to see you year after year during the summer months. We explain how you can encourage garden centers in your area to be a hub for monarch conservation by presenting them with the LEADERS PROGRAM page on this website/ Ebook.
16) Unfortunately, sometimes when we take take our pets to the vet, we find out our dogs and cats have diseases that can't be cured and/or they're old and sick so the vet suggests, as hard as it might be, it would humane to put them out of their pain. This needs to happen with monarchs when they're checked for OE and they have it. OE can't be cured. The garden center will put those monarchs in the freezer so it kills the parasite so it can't spread to other monarchs. Monarchs don't have pain sensors so they don't feel anything when they are frozen.
17) The good news is you can always protect more eggs during the spring and summer months. You just make sure your hatchery is disinfected the way it's taught on the RAISE MONARCHS page of this free website-Ebook and check any monarchs before you introduce them into your hatchery for the parasite OE as described by the butterfly Lady
Now is the time to plant native plants in your yard RIGHT NOW ! If the ground isn't frozen, and is a month before the first freeze, and a couple weeks after the last freeze your plants will establish while they are in the ground. You can also propagate pollinator plants during the winter and anytime of the year. Please read on to find out how you can propagate pollinator plants for almost nothing almost anywhere.
18) Our goal as a monarch butterfly and pollinator conservation leader (s) is not only planting native pollinator plants in your yards, but also building a community organization of monarch and pollinator enthusiasts planting their yards with milkweed and other native pollinator plants, and them propagating those plants once they start growing in the spring and sharing their plants with others and so on.. The website Google: " Monarch Mania" will help you get started propagating and multiplying your plants.
If you need to buy plants to propagate Google: "American Beauties Native Plants" The website tells you where you can pick up American Beauties native plants at over 1000 garden centers and/or order them online GOOGLE: "American Beauties Native plants on Amazon".
19) Propagate your perennial www.ABNativePlants.com in Google: 5" deep 32 plug propagation flats, and also propagate monarchs through egg protection. Please watch this video and others on our organization's Youtube channel. Google: "Craig The Butterflyman Youtube Channel" https://youtu.be/ZfEtuYbzHfs?si=w5IApbgH1wWqb6W6
Planting native plants in your yards, helping others plant them in their yards, and planting plants on public property, is a product of following the steps below.
20) A monarch conservation leader protects monarch eggs from predators so more of them will reach the healthy adult in-flight stage so when released they will breed, lay about 300 eggs in the wild and they will add about 15 monarchs to the migration for each egg we protect and release as an adult butterfly.
21) The other 285 eggs that will be laid outdoors by each female monarch released, in the wild, will also help feed the entire wildlife food chain with the early stages of those eggs development (eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis} through predators eating them and those predators being eaten by their predators, etc. up the wildlife food chain to our food supply. The more healthy monarchs we release the more monarchs there are and the more that the entire wildlife food chain gets fed and the more healthy North America is.
22) The more people in a community who follow the procedure briefly explained above and expanded on below, the more monarchs and pollinators there are in the community reproducing and pollinating plants.
23 ) Duplicating these programs and procedures in 100's and eventually 1000's of communities across the Midwest and Northeast, and Canada in the monarchs summer breeding grounds the more the migration will recover, other pollinator populations, and the entire wildlife food chain will recover by adding more pollinator plants and pollinators to the landscape through adding more pollinators pollinating more plants and so on and so on.
Our fast growing 800,000+ member organization has monarch and pollinator conservationists in every community in America. You can find them in your community if you post your name and community in one or all of our member Facebook groups and ask them to contact you. We have a "groups" page on this website/ Ebook.
24) This is called the circle of life. Our planet completely rotates every 24 hours and circles the sun every 12 months. It's up to us to participate in making our planet a more beautiful place to live during all of those 12 months every year.
25) I explain in an overview of how to accomplish these goals in your community on the LEADERS PROGRAM page and the RESTORING THE MIGRATION page you're reading now. Our fast growing, now 800,000+ member organization of monarch butterfly and pollinator conservationists website: www.CraigTheButterflyman.com teaches you the basics of what you need to know to be an informed monarch and pollinator conservationist and how to implement the programs that will recover our entire environment.
26) Propagation of the plants monarchs and pollinators thrive on in monarch and pollinator conservationists yards to share with other new and existing monarch and pollinator conservationists in their community to plant in their yards is inexpensive and almost free. Get them in the ground now, if the ground's not frozen ,and they will be ready to propagate next season.
27) A network of people propagating plants in flats in their yards and not only planting these plants in their yards but also helping plant other people's yards in their community accomplishes all of the goals outlined above with almost no expense to anyone involved. Growing plants in reusable 5" deep 32 count propagation trays with a variety of plant plugs in each tray can be provided to your neighbors at a cost of under $5 a tray. You can show them how and where to plant them and they will be happy to pay you $5. If you want to get started now Google: "SEED SITTERS BUTTERFLY LADY"
28) Stock native plants to use for propagation are available "NOW" for order on the "American Beauties Native Plants " website and some of them can also be picked up in your community at participating garden centers shown on the LOCATORS page on the American Beauties Native Plants website. These plants can be ordered individually and shipped to you.
After your stock plants start to grow they can be propagated in your yards in 32 count trays and butterflies can be propagated in inexpensive hatcheries.
29) The goals and program explained above takes shape the first season and everything is working on a larger scale next season including sharing plants and eggs with more neighbors throughout your community.
30) ORDER AND GET YOUR PLANTS IN THE GROUND NOW !!! You'll be ready to go next season. Please share this text and post everywhere with everyone. Share it on your Facebook friends pages and with your email list. Our monarchs need everyone's help and they won't help unless they know how.
1) Dr Lincoln Brower is the undisputed Grandfather of monarch butterfly science, conservation, and education and the only scientist to sign the petition to list the monarch butterfly under the endangered species act in 2014.
Dr Lincoln Brower and the other 3 petitioners recommended households raise up to 100 monarchs a year for conservation and education by changing the petition from 10 to 100 on the last line of the petition . The link to that petition modification request is here: https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/8ef0052a-9ec6-4eb5-8373-35e15f18d1e4/downloads/monarch-esa-petition-4d-rule_61731%20(1).pdf?ver=1705591291171
Dr Brower received his PHD in zoology at Yale University in 1957. Professorship in 1976. In 1980 he moved to the zoology department at the University of Florida. On retiring in 1997, he moved to Sweet Briar College as a research professor.[9][10]
1A) A butterfly and moth collector from an early age, he began studying the biology of the monarch butterfly while a postgraduate at Yale in 1954, and became a world expert on the species over six decades.[11][12] He contributed to over 200 papers and 8 films, combining research, public education and conservation work. [13] Unlike some popular sources, Brower did not suppose the monarch to be in danger of extinction, though he agreed that its migration across America was threatened.
1B) In an interview Dr. Brower participated in a question and answer session after the petition to list the monarch had been accepted in 2014 and said this about listing the monarch under the endangered species act and handling and rearing monarchs.
Q. Recent events, including your participation in filing a petition to list the Monarch butterfly as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act, have brought unprecedented attention to the decline of the Monarch butterfly migration. Was this the honest intent of filing the petition–to bring attention to the situation rather than actually list it? Or do you still believe that listing the insect as endangered is the appropriate approach to conservation?
Brower: Those involved in writing the petition had, I think, two goals: One, to raise public and government awareness; and two, to generate funding of varied mitigation programs, private and public.
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Q. Do you still believe that listing the Monarch butterfly is the best option or have you changed your mind?
Brower: I did when I signed onto the petition and the evidence I have seen so far seems to be supporting that contention. I think we will have to wait and see what happens. It is possible that nothing we can do will preserve the Monarch’s migration and overwintering biology spectacle.
Citizen scientists like Catalina Trail were instrumental in piecing together the mysteries of the Monarch butterfly migration. CataLina was on the cover of National Geographic Magazine linked here: https://images.app.goo.gl/Cgq5FMmYoF8FobFL6
Q. If the Monarch becomes listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and milkweed and physical contact with Monarch butterflies will likely be controlled, do you share concerns about the disenfranchisement of the citizen scientists and Monarch butterfly enthusiasts that have for decades been instrumental in unraveling the mystery of their migration?
Brower: Appendix B page 162 (now 159) of the petition is worded in confusing legalese but states that citizen scientists’ participation and conservation efforts will not be restricted. I have recommended that the stated limit of ten butterflies per person be raised to 100.
Changing the petition from 10 to 100 on the last line of the petition (page 159) is all that needs to be done. The link to that petition modification request is here: https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/8ef0052a-9ec6-4eb5-8373-35e15f18d1e4/downloads/monarch-esa-petition-4d-rule_61731%20(1).pdf?ver=1705591291171
It's obvious Dr Brower wanted the public to be involved in the recovery of the monarch migration through rearing monarchs and of course planting the habitat they thrive on.
Click Here:: "Craig the Butterfly Man" You will find a full page of links about programs and websites that provide simple and practical skills that you can apply immediately to save and increase the spectacular monarch butterfly migration
2) Dr. Lincoln Brower, the Xerces Society, Center for Food Safety, and Center for Biological Diversity Petitioned the U S Fish And Wildlife Service to modify the original petition to list the monarch butterfly as threatened by asking that households should raise up to 100 monarchs each year for conservation and education without a permit. Dr Brower is the only scientist, conservationist expert, and monarch educator to sign the petition. Changing the petition from 10 to 100 on the last line of the petition is all that needs to be done. The link to that petition modification request is here: https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/8ef0052a-9ec6-4eb5-8373-35e15f18d1e4/downloads/monarch-esa-petition-4d-rule_61731%20(1).pdf?ver=1705591291171
2A) The Mid-America Fish and Wildlife Agency (MAFWA) 2023 update explains the 100's of millions of common milkweed stems that have been planted on the summer breeding grounds of monarchs in the Midwest and Northeast since 2018. The government tax dollar supported Monarch Joint Venture uses this program to promote monarch conservation and habitat planting to its 120+ partners. All of their efforts over the last 10 years has led to less monarchs in the monarch migration on their eastern range in North America.
2B) Bayer corporation explains 500,000,000 common milkweed stems have been planted on the landscape of the Midwest between 2014 and 2020. Those common milkweeds are somewhat invasive and have all matured and sent out underground runners in every direction and are responsible for increasing those 500 million stems to over 5 billion stems if each plant sent out only 10 runners which produce additional stems. Most of these milkweed plants have sent out many more than 10 stems and, of course, Their floss covered seeds have also established new plants everywhere.
It was determined in 2015 there would need to be 1.3 billion stems planted in mostly the Midwest and Northeast to recover the monarch migration to an average and a sustainable 6 hectares overwintering in Mexico. At least three times that many new stems are established on the landscape now. The monarch migration can, however, recover substantially if milkweed is allowed to grow in crop fields where predators are fewer and can't establish colonies because these fields are plowed regularly.
Of course with GMO crops and with glyphosate used to treat our fields to eliminate every plant except the crop this won't happen unless glyphosatesuse is discontinued and traditional farming practices are re-established across North America which includes the monarch's summer breeding grounds. Milkweed in crop fields has far less monarch predators on or near the plants because the soil was disturbed regularly with plowing before no-till crops, not allowing for the establishment of predator colonies, etc.
2C) The count for the overwintering in Mexico population for 2024 was .90 hectares, the second lowest count since records have been kept over 34 years. The average population overwintering in Mexico is, on average, been decreasing since 2014 when the petition to list the monarch under the endangered species act was accepted.
2D) This program of planting milkweed stems alone is not working to increase the monarch migration population. We can however use this abundance of common milkweed to increase the monarch migration population as explained below in the converting milkweed to monarchs sections. It's a proven fact through research that natural and UNNATURAL monarch predators are increasing and the number one reason the monarch migration population is decreasing. The University of Texas at San Antonio has determined through a 2 year study in 2016-17 imported invasive red fire ants are consuming 87% of the immature offspring of the monarchs returning from Mexico. A Top monarch scientist explains why lack of milkweed isn't causing the decrease in the monarch migration population.
2E) Fire ants are consuming 87% of monarch immatures in Texas as described on page 12 of their research, before the migration gets to the Midwest and Northeast. Invasive imported red fire ant populations are increasing. The remaining 13% of immature's are attacked by necessary natural predators leaving very few mature monarchs to populate the monarch's summer breeding grounds of the Midwest and Northeast May through August. These fire ants have spread throughout the warmer areas of California and continue to play a a large role in keeping the monarch population down in the western monarch migration also.
2F) Other fire ant studies have been done on these fire ants although those studies didn't include the 4th or 5th larvae instar stage of development or chrysalis mortality which makes those studies invalid.
3) The Mid-America Fish and Wildlife Agency (MAFWA) 2023 update has determined there is the opportunity to plant 271 million stems of milkweed in urban areas in the U S. Of course, some of that milkweed exists today. Page 26 of the MAFWA 2023 update text states here: "Although urban areas have traditionally been viewed as biological deserts, recent work has discovered surprising potential for biodiversity. For example, urban areas in the North Central and Northeast region may be able to add 29.8 – 271 million stems of milkweed depending on how current baseline milkweed densities are measured, which amount to 2 – 21% of the north core monarch conservation unit goal of 1.3 billion stems of milkweed (Johnston et al. 2019). Furthermore, the education and outreach possibilities of monarch habitat projects within cities can reach millions of people who might otherwise be unconnected to and unaware of the threats to monarch butterflies specifically, and the role of nature in cities more generally. General resources for implementing monarch habitat conservation and outreach can be found in the Field Museum, Monarch Joint Venture, and Pollinator Partnership. Additional resources can be found locally via state conservation agencies, state monarch & pollinator conservation plans, and local land trusts or nature centers. Though some resources in table 4.1 may apply to urban areas, there is room for additional urban-specific resources to support pollinator habitat in these areas. For example, Minnesota’s Lawns to Legumes program has completed over 670 projects and generated much interest (Gunderson)"
3A) Below is linked a PEER REVIEWED SCIENTIFIC STUDY AND RESEARCH DEMONSTRATING NATURAL AND UNNATURAL PREDATORS ARE THE NUMBER ONE KILLER OF MONARCHS KILLING OVER 95%+ WHILE THEY ARE DEVELOPING THROUGH THEIR VULNERABLE EARLY STAGES UNTIL THEY ARE ADULTS AND CAN FLY AWAY FROM DANGER. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-50737-5
4) With the involvement of monarch citizen scientists, these potentially up to 271 million urban milkweed stems along with billions of stems in accessible places can be used to eventually recover the monarch migration overwintering numbers to over a billion monarchs within a few seasons by implementing the proper programs in the summer breeding grounds to plant urban milkweed in monarch conservationists yards and following the science backed procedures taught on the RAISE MONARCHS page and LEADERS PROGRAM page found on our fast growing 300,000+ member organization of monarch conservationists Facebook groups website.
4A) If planted in yards and vacant lots adjacent to urban residences with a water source available these milkweed stems and the monarchs produced with our monarch egg protecting programs are not vulnerable to climate change and/or natural predators although predators will be sufficiently fed by the immatures of the monarchs released eggs and feed the entire wildlife food chain. Monarchs and other pollinators are responsible for 1/3rd of our food.
4B) A similar program by Dr David James was created, researched and studied for many years actually creating a monarchy migration in the Northwest U S. The Dr James program can be reproduced on the monarchs eastern range starting in the 1st migration generation in Texas and the South in urban areas in peoples yards, on private and public property, on small and large tracts, and some southern states in April and May.
Citizen monarch scientists can intervene in the 2nd generation of the migration in June and early July in the Midwest and Northeast when more citizen scientists using milkweed in their yards, science teachers in elementary, middle, and high schools involvement in their schools science rooms, using milkweed on school property on the monarch's eastern range of the Midwest and Northeast. This would allow the reared released monarchs to lay monarch eggs outdoors, in the wild, that would develop and multiply in the wild, so the next more populated 3rd migration generation adults and the adults that develop in the next 4th migration generation that migrates to Mexico to overwinter, would multiply the migration and have all the traits needed to make the up to 3000 mile trip to Mexico, overwinter and return to Texas and the south to lay eggs and start the migration over again.
4C) Doug Tallamy and his HOMEGROWN NATIONAL PARK has 10's of thousands of members emails that plant native plants in their yards in urban areas. Commercial growers can produce 16 and/or 32 plug flats of common milkweed and make them available to his members at local garden centers and/or sent through the mail along with or without a collapsible 2'x 2' x 3' netted popup hatchery habitat included with the plugs. Large growers and small growers with native plant production capabilities can ship the flats and hatcheries by UPS and Fedex etc directly to citizen scientists homes.
4D) Monarch Watch has the Milkweed Market program that supplies milkweed flats to urban and rural conservationists.
4E) Fields of just common milkweed have been grown in the past to harvest seeds for their floss to make life jackets. When people practice the RAISE MONARCHS program and an acre of milkweed is planted in the area, it gives urban citizen monarch conservationists a place to harvest common milkweed stems to feed their larvae for the program. This multiplies the migration.
4F) Building a LIVE podcast audience on Youtube to engage citizen scientists in our program helps citizens become educated and more involved when watching others in our organization in different cities and towns across the monarch migration's range practice our simple effective programs to increase the migration population. We can ad live podcast recorded videos to an organizational Youtube channel. I have a 300+ video YouTube channel with videos I've done over the years to help our members learn how to practice our programs. Obviously we can do more "professional" educational videos than the ones I've done personally.
5) Established Common milkweed is 2 feet high on the entire landscape of the Midwest and Northeast referred to as the monarchs summer breeding grounds (SBG) by June 1st and will feed one monarch larvae in the Midwest and Northeast from the second generation of the migration per 2 foot stem. (about 10-12 leaves per larvae) Common milkweed grows to 6 foot tall by July 1st on the SBG. Each 6 foot stem of common milkweed would feed a 2-3 caterpillars.
Simply put a I -2 foot stem of milkweed with a monarch egg on it harvested some time during the first few weeks of June in the MIdwest or Northeast and insert the stem in a cup full of water with a lid with a hole for the stem in the top indoors near a window and allowed to develop into an adult monarch and released, and if it is a female she will lay 300 eggs and only 5% will survive to adults in the wild, and will be responsible for adding 15 monarchs to the 3rd migration generation, and those 15 will be responsible for 15 which is 225 monarchs added to the 4th migrate to Mexico migration population. 1 female protected until she's an adult increases the migration population 225 times or by 225 monarchs going to Mexico in late August or September. If 1 million people raise 1 monarch and release it, the population going to Mexico would be 225 million monarchs compared to 15-20 million monarchs overwintering in Mexico in 2023-24.
IF 10,000 CITIZEN SCIENTIST RAISE 100 TO ADULTS FOR RELEASE IN 2- 2' x 2' x 3' Restcloud butterfly habitat hatcheries by netting a female they see laying eggs and introducing her in the hatcheries to lay eggs the numbers will be the same as above with only 10,000 participants in the program. Each participant will only need to harvest 100-2' stems or 50-6' stems to feed the 100 larvae. THIS PROGRAM WITH THIS NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS WILL RESTORE THE MIGRATION. Of course, the number of participants will continue to grow and continue to increase the migration even more.
Monarchs raised in the educational live butterfly exhibit in garden centers using the LEADERS PROGRAM after breeding in the exhibit and checked for OE, can be distributed to citizen scientists in the community to lay eggs in their hatcheries at home. After these monarchs are raised at participants homes and they emerge from their chrysalis and dry they can bring them back to the garden center in the hatchery they developed in to have a sample of 5 monarchs checked for OE and all of them can be released if those 5 are OE free. The hatchery can be disinfected at the garden center for future use and the citizen scientist can pick up the hatchery.
Building a LIVE podcast audience on Youtube to engage citizen scientists in our program helps citizens become educated and more involved when watching others in our organization in different cities and towns across the monarch migration's range practice our simple effective programs to increase the migration population. We can ad live podcast recorded videos to an organizational Youtube channel. I have a 300+ video YouTube channel with videos I've done over the years to help our members learn how to practice our programs. Obviously we can do more "professional" educational videos than the ones I've done
Much more on all of this later: Please read on.
5B) If the 271 millions 2' stems were harvested just in urban areas in the month of June and applied to the protecting monarch eggs to adults program by netting an egg laying female or collecting stems with eggs already on them and the eggs and larvae developed to adult healthy butterflies by consuming each stem, the increase would be 271 million monarchs and since half are females (135m) and they are released to the wild, that would produce 15 monarchs in flight stage in the wild for each female if she laid 300 eggs.
5C) 15 x 135 million monarchs would be 2 billion 25 million monarchs added to the 3rd generation migration population. Those monarchs would multiply the same way, increasing the 4th generation of reared female monarchs which migrates to Mexico 15x. These numbers are the same if the plants were growing in the ground in a stand of common milkweed, covered with a milkweed supported proper light weight fine netting, male and female monarchs are introduced under the netting to breed and lay eggs, and the eggs allowed to mature to adults where the milkweed grows and monarchs are released when adults. This $189 enclosure will work to cover 100 growing milkweed stems and produce over 100 monarchs. Just water the milkweed through the side screens from the outside.
6) Our organization's youtube channel has many videos showing dozens of our beautiful pollinator plant beds and expanding botanical gardens and demonstrating the egg protecting protocol and the hatcheries we use for the RAISE MONARCHS and LEADERS PROGRAMS.
7) If we're going to increase the monarch butterfly migration population we are going to have to become increasingly creative and proactive. With the expanding use of GMO crops, insecticides, and herbicides nature isn't natural anymore on the landscape of North America.
8) Farmers and other property owners could easily be destroying common milkweed on their property right now in fear of having restrictions put on their land if the monarch is listed as threatened and/or endangered under the endangered species act.
9) Just the monarch conservation Facebook group I founded has 23,000+ members and is adding over 1000 new members a week during this migration season. Our fast growing organization of dozens of monarch conservation Facebook groups website I founded has over 300,000 members. Each group is adding new members regularly. You can observe what's going on in these groups live right now by clicking on the above link. The group I founded is linked here and you can see what's happening live right now: https://www.facebook.com/groups/HowtoRaiseMonarchButterflies/
9A) Our growth in our monarch conservation Facebook groups members shows 100's of 1000's of citizens are interested in monarch conservation and protecting eggs that are laid and releasing monarchs. We have hundreds of thousands of those members names we can contact to acquire emails from for newsletters and training for our RAISE MONARCHS and LEADERS PROGRAM . The Facebook platform doesn't allow for much control over members and their rearing habitats, disinfecting their monarch hatchery habitats and checking monarchs for OE before releasing them to breed and multiply in the wild.
9B) There needs to be a place in communities where monarchs are checked for OE and maybe the netted pop up hatcheries can be disinfected. Garden centers would be a great place to use as a hub for monarch conservation in communities across North America.
We have an effective protocol for checking monarchs for OE We have a proper way to disinfect hatcheries by completely submerging the collapsed hatchery in one part unscented household bleach and 4 parts water for 12 hours, removing and rinsing the folded hatchery very well and opening it to dry.
We can have people in communities, preferably at a garden centers, practicing the LEADERS PROGRAM who will net the wild monarchs they see laying eggs on milkweed in their garden centers and develop a generation of 100+ monarchs using the RAISE MONARCH or LEADERS PROGRAM operating in the garden center and the garden center can make egg laying females available to monarch conservationist. The garden center can also make milkweed stems with eggs on them available at the garden center to conservationists who want to protect monarchy eggs and feed caterpillars at home until adults are ready for release.
9) Building a LIVE podcast audience on Youtube to engage citizen scientists in our programs helps citizens become educated and more involved when watching others in our organization in different cities and towns across the monarch migration's range practice our simple effective programs to increase the migration population. We can ad live podcast recorded videos to an organizational Youtube channel. I have a 300+ video YouTube channel with videos I've done over the years to help our members learn how to practice our programs. Obviously we can do more "professional" educational videos than the ones I've done
10) Protecting monarch eggs until they are adults and releasing healthy monarchs adds an average of 15 butterflies to the monarch migration in the next migration generation using the accepted 95% immature mortality rate and 300 eggs laid per monarch. The other 285 monarchs that are consumed by predators as immatures feed the entire wildlife food chain. The more monarchs we release the more monarchs we have in the migration and the healthier the wildlife food chain is including us. We teach the best science researched and peer reviewed method of protective rearing.
10A) Working with garden centers, nature centers, science teachers, etc. to build a data base of emails for monarch conservationists who are protecting eggs who can receive regular monarch conservation emails about how to check their monarchs for OE and/or where to get their monarchs checked for OE before releasing them, reminding people to disinfect their hatcheries or bringing them to get disinfected and hold public events around the country where monarch conservationists can gather are some of the topics for newsletters.
10B) Using as an initial goal of building a database of 500,000 monarch conservationists who are protecting an average of just 50 eggs at the same time in a 2' 2' x 3' hatchery habitat indoors near a window until they're adult butterflies and checked to be free of OE in the first generation of monarchs in their area in the summer breeding grounds starting the protecting process before July 15th 50 x 500,000 = 25 million healthy monarchs released to breed in the wild. Using half, 250,000 females laying an average of 300 eggs using a 5% survival rate to adult butterflies and released would add 15 x 25 million or 375 million monarchs to the 3rd migration generation that developed in the wild in the summer breeding grounds. When half of the 375m (females) 187,500,000 lay 300 eggs for the 4th and final migrate to Mexico generation developing in the wild, 15 x 187,500,000 = 2,812,500,000 of those eggs will reach the adult stage, enter diapause and start the migration to Mexico to overwinter. According to the MAFWA and BAYER numbers, right now, there are enough stems of common milkweed on the landscape on the summer breeding grounds than needed to support the 4th generation's development to the adult stage and migrate to Mexico.
11) Right now our monarch conservationist citizen scientists in our groups are finding milkweed anywhere they can in vacant lots or along roadsides, to raise their monarchs and/or have or are planting common milkweed or other species in their yards. You can go look at our groups right now.
12) Milkweed stems planted from 2014-2020 in the monarchs summer breeding grounds of the Midwest by conservation groups with the help of citizens
12A) These 500,000,000 mostly common milkweed stems have self propagated over the years since 2020 adding an estimated 10 stems per plant planted or 5 billion more stems to the 500m stems not counting new stems planted since 2020 and are not recovering the monarch butterfly migration population to an average of 6 hectares overwintering in Mexico. The migration population is actually decreasing.
12B) The Mid-America Fish and Wildlife Association (MAFWA) plan is the plan government supported monarch conservation associations are following to recover the monarch migration.
12C) Monarch conservation funding bill information 2024. We are aware of the request - to increase USFS dedicated funding to $30M annually, a 50% increase. The place where this would happen is the FY25 Interior Appropriations bill. We are scheduled to consider that bill in the subcommittee on Friday, June 28th (2024). We will not see bill text/details until sometime that week at the earliest. Here is the CJ for USFS/International Programs: When Rosa was Chair, she was able to secure a $3M increase in 2023.
House Republicans proposed a $2M increase last year (for FY24) but it was not included in the final law, partially due to the very tight caps imposed under the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA). So being able to maintain level funding was basically a win for FY24
13) A solution for increasing the monarch migration population is to Involve elementary, middle school, and high school science teachers, state and federal nature centers directors and volunteers, and U S Fish and Wildlife refuges friends groups in the monarchs summer breeding grounds protecting monarch eggs that wouldn't have achieved flight stage in the wild. I implemented that program in the 3 elementary schools in the science rooms in Branford, Ct. in May of this year. The science teachers learned how to protect the immatures until they are in flight stage and help students' parents learn how to do the same at home. This video teaches about harvesting milkweed for your hatcheries.
13A) Building a LIVE podcast audience on Youtube to engage citizen scientists in our program helps citizens become educated and more involved when watching others in our organization in different cities and towns across the monarch migration's range practice our simple effective programs to increase the migration population. We can ad live podcast recorded videos to an organizational Youtube channel. I have a 300+ video YouTube channel with videos I've done over the years to help our members learn how to practice our programs. Obviously we can do more "professional" educational videos than the ones I've done
14) In addition, the science teachers can involve students and their families in planting beds of milkweed with 32 count plug trays at their schools and in their yards at home and eventually harvesting milkweed stems when a partially mature 2 feet tall or taller to rear monarchs with or covering milkweed stems in their yards with netted portable structures and introducing breeding monarchs and allowing them to mature autonomously. 32- 6' tall mature common milkweed stems will feed up to 100 larvae to maturity.
14A) Each 6' stem of common milkweed harvested will be responsible for protecting 3 monarch eggs to the adult stage and if female, when released, each butterfly will be responsible for 15 monarchs added to the next migration generation. Of course multiplication will continue with the following generations.
14B) Building a LIVE podcast audience on Youtube to engage citizen scientists in our programs helps citizens become educated and more involved when watching others in our organization in different cities and towns across the monarch migration's range practice our simple effective programs to increase the migration population. We can ad live podcast recorded videos to an organizational Youtube channel. I have a 300+ video YouTube channel with videos I've done over the years to help our members learn how to practice our programs. Obviously we can do more "professional" educational videos than the ones I've done
15) Monarch Research Project Autonomous rearing powerpoint presentation . This is what their facility looked like in 2017 when I took videos.
16) New members in this monarch egg to adult butterfly protecting and releasing program will add an estimated 15 adult monarchs to the next generation of the migration in the wild for every female monarch released that wouldn't have existed without our intervention in the first generation of the migration in the summer breeding grounds. Next generations including the migration generation will multiply the migration in the wild even further.
17) The ensuing 2 generations would develop in the wild producing monarchs and multiplying the monarch migration population with butterflies with all the traits needed to complete the up to 3000 mile journey to overwinter in Mexico and return to Texas and the southern U S to lay eggs to start the North American monarch migration over again.
18) Unfortunately the vast majority (87%) of the monarchs returning from Mexico's offspring will be consumed by imported invasive red fire ants during their early vulnerable stages of development. Page 12 of this monarch research done by the University of Texas San Antonio is linked at the bottom of this email and can be found here. The 2018 final study report is the first link on the Texas state comptroller's office research list. https://comptroller.texas.gov/programs/natural-resources/research/all-research/archive.php There are other fire ant studies at this link that research up to 3rd instar caterpillars which don't include the 4th and 5th instars and chrysalis stages which is when most immatures are consumed by fire ants according to the UTSA study the first study listed. The A & M studies are incomplete and have very little value.
19)The 13% leftover immature monarchs laid by the first monarch migration generation out of Mexico that are not consumed by the fire ants will be ravaged by hundreds of natural predators leaving few monarchs to populate the monarchs' summer breeding grounds. It's been determined the migration population won't have a large enough monarch population when the migration reaches the summer breeding grounds to multiply enough in the next 2 generations in the summer breeding grounds, to create 6 hectares of monarchs overwintering in Mexico which is the average number needed to prevent a possible extinction event in Mexico as decided by U S fish and wildlife.
20) The possibility of an extinction (PE) event necessitates the intervention by 10's of thousands hopefully 100's of thousands of citizen monarch conservationists protecting more monarch eggs in that second generation of the migration than survive to adult butterflies in the wild. In the wild it has been determined there's a 95% mortality rate in the monarchs early immature stages of development explained here: Invertebrate predators such as ants, spiders, and wasps attack monarch larvae on milkweed plants (Prysby 2004). Only about 5% of monarchs reach the last larval instar. Wasps have been observed feeding on monarch abdomens at a California overwintering site (D. Frey, personal communication), and fire ants have been suggested as a major predator of monarch larvae in Texas (Calvert 1996). Other research suggests that wasp predators may be sensitive to the chemical defenses of monarch larvae, and that wasps fed monarch larvae with high cardenolide concentrations had lower reproductive potential and more deformities in their nests (L.S. Rayor, personal communication) than wasps that preyed upon less toxic caterpillars. In a laboratory experiment, one lacewing larva was observed consuming 40 monarch eggs. Chinese mantids and paper wasps have also been observed preying on immature monarchs.
21) Remember, Dr. Lincon Brower and the other petitioners who requested FWS list the monarch under the endangered species act (esa) asked citizens to raise up to 100 per household per season even if the monarch is listed under the endangered species act. This change only requires the number 10 be changed to 100 on the last page and last sentence of the petition.
22) We can involve the Monarch Research Project (MRP) and their rearing program with some modifications. I helped the MRP get started. I helped them get started. This is what their facility looked like in 2017 when I took videos.
22A) Building a LIVE podcast audience on Youtube to engage citizen scientists in our program helps citizens become educated and more involved when watching others in our organization in different cities and towns across the monarch migration's range practice our simple effective programs to increase the migration population. We can ad live podcast recorded videos to an organizational Youtube channel. I have a 300+ video YouTube channel with videos I've done over the years to help our members learn how to practice our programs. Obviously we can do more "professional" educational videos than the ones I've done
23) The 'LEADERS PROGRAM'drop down menu item on our 600,000+ member organization of monarch conservationist Facebook groups website www.CraigTheButterflyman.com is one of the best ways to recover the monarch migration population by protecting eggs to adults and raising awareness of the benefits of planting for monarchs and pollinators. The Leaders program uses this educational live butterfly sanctuary exhibit https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse?ref=pzfcpaeo&variant=42040383340784
24) The LEADERS PROGRAM creates a positive relationship between citizens and monarchs. If you can't touch them and be up close and personal with them they are beautiful, only elusive strangers who fly away when you get close. People love to help and watch monarch eggs become caterpillars; caterpillars become chrysalis, and chrysalis, become butterflies, and release them to pollinate and multiply. We use this product for the educational exhibit https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse?ref=pzfcpaeo&variant=42040383340784
25) An option would be Prides Corner Farms and their American Beauties Native Plants branding program could spread the Leaders Program to garden centers across Connecticut and quickly across the entire Northeast, and Midwest. They supply over 1000 privately owned garden centers across the Midwest and Northeast with native plants and are based in Lebanon, Connecticut and have affiliations with other large wholesale growers across the monarchs summer breeding grounds. All growers of plants can be involved in this effort.
25A) The LEADERS PROGRAM helps extend the plant selling season for garden centers into July and August by drawing current customers and new customers to the educational live butterfly sanctuary exhibit experience. The plants monarchs and pollinators need are for sale in the exhibit and at the garden center and potential customers can see monarchs develop through their life stages and nectar on the plants in the exhibit which encourages them to take some home and plant them in their yards.
26) Prides Corner Farms could supply flats of "common" milkweed plugs, the most popular host plant for monarchs, and a variety of host plant plugs for other butterflies and pollinators to garden centers. They can also supply the native perennial nectar plants butterflies and other pollinators thrive on to garden centers and the garden centers that embrace the LEADERS PROGRAM
27)The wholesale plant suppliers will help their garden centers help their customers learn how to help monarchs and other pollinators through planting them in their yards, parks, public lands, and fields.
27A) Building a LIVE podcast audience on Youtube to engage citizen scientists in our program helps citizens become educated and more involved when watching others in our organization in different cities and towns across the monarch migration's range practice our simple effective programs to increase the migration population. We can ad live podcast recorded videos to an organizational Youtube channel. I have a 300+ video YouTube channel with videos I've done over the years to help our members learn how to practice our programs. Obviously we can do more "professional" educational videos than the ones I've done
28) Connecticut's own Prides Corner Farms , the largest grower in the Northeast, is affiliated with and a leader among growers across the summer breeding grounds of monarchs and pollinators and influences the grower/garden center industry across the monarchs, and most pollinators' summer breeding grounds in the Midwest and Northeast. .
29) Maybe they will be happy to encourage and advise garden centers how to help us recover the monarch migration and pollinator population by planting the summer breeding grounds with native plants to recover all pollinator populations.
30) Growers across the state including Prides Corner Farms can supply the native plants to garden centers and part of that will be making available the educational live butterfly sanctuary exhibit to them along with the best way to rear the monarchs to put in it and turn their garden center into the gathering place for monarch butterfly conservationists in the community.
30A) Garden centers in the monarchs and pollinators summer breeding grounds can be the hub for monarch conservation in their communities and sponsor events, meetings, and education at their business and be the supplier of the plants to the public the pollinators need to survive and thrive .
31) Of course the program can be promoted by the state to all garden centers in the state with the guidelines for protecting wild caught monarch eggs until adults including inspecting mature monarchs for OE and how to disinfect their hatcheries regularly without singling out any grower or garden center to head up the entire state program. The state can have direct communication with all garden centers in the state advising them of the program. Monarchs can be kept in the educational exhibit until they breed, stems with an egg or eggs on them in small cups with lids and water in them can be shared with community members, and egg laying females can be shared with monarch conservationists in the communities to rear monarchs for release, and some are released. A few bred monarchs can be kept to lay eggs in the exhibit so visitors can watch them develop through their life stages into adult monarchs.
GARDEN CENTER PLANTS FOR MONARCHS AND POLLINATORS WILL ALWAYS BE FOR SALE TO THE COMMUNITY IN THE EDUCATIONAL EXHIBIT. The advantage of using American Beauties Native Plants is they have a wide variety and are in 1000 garden centers on the monarchs summer breeding grounds and can also be ordered online. Many people will use these native plants as stock plants and be encouraged to propagate more of the same plant to spread around in their community tyo establish urban habitat communities which will increase more awareness and action to plant more and more habitat.
32) Future monarch generations can be added to the educational exhibit at the garden center when monarchs are brought back by community citizen scientists. Monarch conservationists in the community can be notified of garden center events by collected emails.
33) Of course the greatest advantage of the Leaders Program is it doesn't require tax dollar funding. A small permit fee could be required to be a licensed garden center participant to offset administrative expenses for inspections, etc.. These are the exhibits we use for the program https://www.quictents.com/products/25-x10-x7-large-greenhouse?ref=pzfcpaeo&variant=42040383340784
34) Of course all of the states in the monarchs breeding range will be advised of our program including Canada and Mexico if interested. .
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Sincerely, www.CraigtheButterflyman.com