How Naperville will create, enhance habitats for the bees and the butterflies

The Naperville City Council approved a resolution this week to create and enhance habitats for monarch butterflies, bees and other native pollinators, prompted by a countywide initiative by the DuPage Monarch Project to encourage towns to establish more pollinator-friendly habitat.

Lonnie Morris, who kick-started the project in 2015, coordinates the DuPage Monarch Project in collaboration with the DuPage County Forest Preserve District, River Prairie Group, the Conservation Foundation and Wild Ones DuPage.

While the organization has several hands-on initiatives in which native species are planted to help support pollinators, it prioritizes community engagement by reaching out directly to park districts and towns like Naperville and recommending they adopt resolutions to manage land with pollinators in mind.

This goal can be realized in different ways. In Naperville, the newly adopted resolution includes several action items, such as identifying locations where milkweed and nectar plants can be planted or incorporated and creating at least one monarch way station that meets Monarch Watch certification criteria.

Monarch way stations are essentially habitats designed with monarchs in mind. They include the monarch caterpillars' sole food source - the native milkweed plant - alongside other resources such as additional nectar sources.

Ben Mjolsness, Naperville's sustainability coordinator, said the resolution was a "natural fit" for the city, which already has a number of ongoing projects that create and support pollinator habitat.

Most recently, the city set aside $200,000 in this year's budget for a five-year plan to identify and transition city-owned land from turf grass to native plants.

In addition to its direct support of pollinators with more native plants, the project also can show community members and business owners how they, too, can transition their land away from grass and toward pollinator-friendly landscapes. Mjolsness said.

"We've been working more and more on our sustainability work plan, and some of the items on the list of strategies include promoting more native plantings, and so I think this was a natural fit for us on our journey to say, 'This is important to us,'" he said. "Our neighbors are doing it, we're doing some of these things, and we want to continue to expand that work to support both monarchs and all pollinators in the community."

With Naperville's adoption of the resolution, the project has garnered support from a total of 32 municipalities and park districts. In 2022, Bloomingdale, Glen Ellyn, the Carol Stream Park District and the Itasca Park District became signatories.

While monarchs are certainly a focus of the DuPage Monarch Project and its signatories, the organization advocates for all pollinators and insects, whose protection Morris said is paramount.

"If humans were to disappear, the natural systems would all regenerate and be very happy," she said. "But if our insects were to disappear, everything would crash. Everything would crash quickly, very quickly. They are the foundation between plants and the rest of the ecosystem because of what they provide - and it's not just the pollinators. It's the decomposers; it's all of the insects."

Since becoming a signatory in 2016, the Fox Valley Park District has converted 20 acres of turf grass to native pollinator habitat. The district, which encompasses the city of Aurora and the outlying villages of North Aurora and Montgomery, is the second-largest park district in the state behind Chicago's.

"The resolution really formalized our board's initiative and commitment, and it set the stage for then subsequent grant funding and projects," Jeff Palmquist, the district's director of planning, research and grants, said. "These are all valuable pieces that come together to stay committed to land stewardship and maintenance and community engagement."

The district offers classes about insects and pollinators for grades K-5, and in many projects, the district has worked with student volunteers to create or enhance pollinator habitat.

Palquist added that the district's pollinator initiative has been successful not only because the habitats are created, but also because they are maintained.

"We understand and are committed to that long-term stewardship," he said. "It's one thing just to create the habitat, but then to have it thrive in perpetuity requires that commitment. That starts at the board level in approving budgets that commit funding to natural areas and in understanding the importance of pollinators and how local park districts can have a significant impact."

For its catalog of classes, programs, camps and other events providing opportunities to experience and learn about butterflies and bees, the park district received the DuPage Monarch Project's annual Pat Miller Community Engagement award last year.

The DuPage Monarch Project has one other annual award: the Jane Foulser Habitat Award, which was given to Lisle Park District for its Oak Tree Regeneration Project. The district germinated hundreds of acorns last year and is nurturing the seedlings for planting throughout their parks during the next several years. Oak trees are a vital source of food and winter habitat for pollinators.

In addition to its signatories, the DuPage Monarch Project has 19 associate members - or organizations actively involved with monarch conservation by planting milkweed and nectar plants, reducing or eliminating the use of pesticides, sharing or selling native plants, and more. Members include the Lombard Garden Club, the Wheaton Public Library and Immigrant Solidarity DuPage.

A full list of DuPage Monarch Project signatories and associates can be found at tinyurl.com/DMPsignatories.

• Jenny Whidden is a climate change and environment writer working with the Daily Herald through a partnership with Report For America supported by The Nature Conservancy. To help support her work with a tax-deductible donation, see dailyherald.com/rfa.