Document text
While considering the monarch butterflies plight and watching decline over the past 20 years, Lomakatsi has committed to improving their dwindling habitat. What would our world be like without them? How does anyone forget their story of transformation and migration? We are losing them. The latest estimates for the western population pegs them at just 10,000 adult female egg laying butterflies. This came to my attention when our partners at the Southwest Oregon Pollinators Collaborative met. According to Emma Pelton who tracks the butterflies at the Xerces Society, there were just 20,456 western monarchs at monitoring sites in November. That’s compared to last year when the nonprofit counted 148,000. It’s the lowest it has been since they began monitoring the species in 1997 when some 2 million Monarchs roamed the west in search of milkweed to eat and to lay their eggs. “We’re close to vortex extinction. That means no matter what efforts we make we can’t bring the species back. We’re not there yet, and we don’t want to be” Pelton told our group listening to her presentation. With monarch’s in free fall, dropping by 90 percent from their original abundance when measurements began, we can assume other necessary pollinators are experiencing the same types of decline. With pollinator extinction, human food supply and ecosystems generally face collapse as well. So, what are we doing about this? You’ll find the Lomakatsi Restoration Project everywhere where nature needs a hand, and this is no exception. We restore and enhance habitat along woodland edges, meadows, natural forest openings, riparian habitat and landing places for the monarchs as they make their journeys from California’s coast north. We’ve done 300 acres so far, and more work is on the way in the future. You can help by planting native milkweed and flowering plants and by looking to eliminate pesticides. You may not know us as protectors of the monarch and restorers of their declining habitat — Lomakatsi is perhaps best known for working to restore forests and streams with our many tribal partners as well as The Nature Conservancy, state and federal agencies and a whole host of non-governmental organizations. We believe in restoring communities while returning ecosystems to their best and healthiest conditions, so we also train, empower and employ with living wage jobs, the local workforces, including youth. We don’t stop there. Restoring ecosystems and sustaining communities is all day, every day. When it comes to monarchs, we plant milkweed in some of our projects. Putting butterfly-friendly plants in the ground after carefully applied prescribed fire improves habitat. It is especially beneficial to migrating monarch butterflies. This is a critical time for monarchs. According to U.S Fish and Wildlife, “Pesticide use can destroy the milkweed monarchs need to survive. A changing climate has intensified weather events which may impact monarch populations.” When it comes to conservation everything is knit together. We are connected to the monarchs that pollinate our food sources and keep our ecosystems healthy. So next time you find yourself walking on a Siskiyou Mountain trail or watching butterflies gathering in the milkweed on your patio, consider all it takes for them to get there. Monarchs take three or four generations to make the annual migration from California to Southern Canada and depend on us to keep their path healthy — that’s one of the many things that keep us motivated at Lomakatsi Restoration Project. If you’d like to help too, check us out atlomakatsi.org. Marko Bey is the executive director of the Lomakatsi Restoration Project. Its mission is to restore ecosystems and the sustainability of communities, cultures and economies.