The Land Trust and Western Monarch Advocates recently joined forces to boost habitat for the imperiled Western monarch butterfly in Oregon. This  new statewide effort will help build new habitat by planting more native milkweed and other pollinator plants for monarch butterflies.

The Land Trust kicked off the project in Central Oregon in September by partnering with a variety of community groups to plant milkweed. Highlights include:

Bend: we partnered with Bend Pollinator Pathway to plant more milkweed in new pollinator gardens they are growing in the city. We also partnered with Vámonos Outside to distribute milkweed to students and families in the Juntos Aprendemos program and the Silver Rails Elementary English Language Development program. The Environmental Center also helped distribute some via their Garden Educator Network.

La Pine: we partnered with South County Gardening to give milkweed to local gardeners and plant in the Victory Garden in La Pine.

Prineville: we partnered with Crook County schools to provide plants for new pollinator gardens at Steins Pillar Elementary, Crooked River Elementary, and Crook County High School. We also partnered with Mosaic Medical to distribute milkweed to senior citizens who love gardening.

Warm Springs: we are partnering with Warm Springs Community Action Team to distribute milkweed in the Warm Springs community.


Huge thanks to all our partners for helping create more habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators in Central Oregon! Together we planted more than 1,500 new native plants in our communities. Monarch butterflies and other native pollinators like bees, bats, and moths play important roles in the natural world. Some pollinators—like the monarch butterfly—are struggling to thrive here in Central Oregon. We can all help by planting more milkweed and other pollinator friendly plants.


Learn more:

• About monarch butterfly conservation.
• How to grow your own pollinator garden.
• About other monarch and pollinator resources.