Important Happenings!

THIS is good news!  I hope the butterflies and other insects fly high above the traffic!

Obama launches plant to save the bees and butterflies
(Excerpt)  In “Creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators” issued by the White House press office, the president outlines the importance of pollinators, the threat they are under, and a plan of attack to get them back on track.

This Is How The Obama Administration Plans To Save Bees And Butterflies
(Excerpt)  The plan calls for restoring 7 million acres (2.8 million hectares) of bee habitat in the next five years. Numerous federal agencies will have to find ways to grow plants on federal lands that are more varied and better for bees to eat because scientists have worried that large land tracts that grow only one crop have hurt bee nutrition.

The White House plan to save the monarch butterfly: Build a butterfly highway
"Traffic on Interstate 35 is about to get a lot … buggier.
(Excerpt) That’s thanks to President Obama, newfound friend to imperiled pollinators everywhere, and his strategy for protecting the nation’s insects. Among the proposals is a plan to create a pollinator highway along the I-35 corridor, which extends from Mexico to Minnesota and follows a main route for the annual monarch butterfly migration."

Pella Wildlife Company Launches Monarch Butterfly Restoration Project 
(Excerpt)  DES MOINES, Iowa – The Pella Wildlife Company is working with the Iowa Department of Transportation to restore the Monarch Butterfly population in the Midwest.

The I-35 Monarch Sustainability Program involves Pella Wildlife Company workers and volunteers planting the milkweed wildflower along I-35 from the southern to northern tip of the state. The wildlife company requested a special permit to plant the wildflower along I-35 from the Iowa DOT and is responsible for the planting and maintaining of the plots.