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Managing Roadsides and Rights-of-Way for Monarchs

Managing Roadsides and Rights-of-Way for Monarchs

A long line of common milkweed borders a highway.
Photo: The Xerces Society /Jennifer Hopwood

Our roads and highways present unique opportunities for creating corridors to support monarchs and other pollinators. In some areas, roadsides may be the only places where milkweed and nectar plants may be available. When managed with pollinators in mind, roadsides have the potential to add miles and miles of high-quality habitat while reducing maintenance costs. Learn more about how roadsides can be managed to reduce costs and protect pollinators.

The resources provided here are just a sampling of links related to managing roadsides and rights-of-way for pollinators. To view all of our right-of-way management resources, including guidelines and best management practices click here.

 

Monarch Conservation Resources

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Xerces News

New Legislation Would Establish USDA Label for Pollinator-Safe Plants

Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley announced new legislation that would create a pollinator-friendly plant labeling program, modeled after the Organic Foods Production Act that created organic labeling. The legislation follows research findings by the Xerces Society and University of Nevada, Reno that documented dangerous pesticide levels in pollinator plants at U.S. nurseries.

MONARCH Act Reintroduced to Aid Western Butterfly

United States Representative Jimmy Panetta (CA-19) and Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) have reintroduced the House version of the bicameral Monarch Action, Recovery, and Conservation of Habitat (MONARCH) Act.  The MONARCH Act would authorize $62.5 million for projects aimed at conserving the western monarch and an additional $62.5 million to implement the Western Monarch Butterfly Conservation Plan, which was prepared by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in January 2019. 

Troubling News for Eastern Monarchs as Overwintering Area Declines

The Eastern migratory monarch butterfly is at risk: new reports show a sharp population decline and a loss of habitat in the forests where they winter each year. In just one year, the presence of monarch butterflies in their wintering grounds dropped 22%, from 7 acres to nearly 5.5 acres. This is part of a mostly downward trend over the past 25 years—when monarchs once covered more than 45 acres of forest.