It's official - we're a Monarch Waystation!

We are registered Monarch Waystation #1459. Monarch Watch is an educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas in the United States. It engages citizen scientists in large-scale research projects. Monarch Watch gets children of all ages involved in science.

Monarch Waystations provide milkweeds, nectar plants, and shelter for monarchs throughout their annual cycle of reproduction and migration.

Some stats from the Monarch Watch site:

Monarch resources are declining. Milkweeds and nectar sources are declining due to development and the widespread use of herbicides in croplands, pastures and roadsides. Because 90% of all milkweed/monarch habitats occur within the agricultural landscape, farm practices have the potential to strongly influence monarch populations.
• Farm and ranch land is disappearing at rate of nearly 3,000 acres per day. In a 5-year period starting in 1992, 6 million acres of farmland (an area the size of the state of Maryland) were converted to subdivisions, factories, and other developments
• Widespread adoption of herbicide-resistant corn and soybeans in the last 5 years has resulted in the loss of at least 80 million acres of monarch habitat.
• Use of herbicides along roadsides continues to reduce milkweeds and nectar plants.

Monarchs need resource patches - lots of them - and the goal of Monarch Watch is to create at least 10,000 of these patches, which they are calling “Monarch Waystations”. If you want to become a waystation, here's the link to register: http://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/certify.html