A pilot project to create a habitat that will help monarch butterflies and other pollinators was recently begun in the Grand Marais Recreation Park by the Grand Marais PUC. The project was initiated by the city’s electrical utilities provider Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA) to help save the monarchs. At the butterfly garden were (L-R) Dave Tersteeg, Mike Taylor and Aaron Poznanovic.
Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission joined with Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA) to help create habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
Loss of habitat has resulted in an estimated 90 percent reduction in the eastern U.S. population of the iconic butterfly.
Locally, SMMPA Member Representative and Line Superintendent/ Power Plant Operations Manager Mike Taylor led an effort to establish a small pollinator plot in the Grand Marais Recreation Park.
“The assistant park manager really took this project on and did most of the work with help from some of the park employees,” Taylor said.
Grand Marais PUC members can take part in the program if they want to, said Taylor. “SMMPA gave us seed packets that can be picked up for free at Grand Marais City Hall.”
With SMMPA’s help, Grand Marais and several of its other member municipalities established 26 pollinator sites in 12 different communities this year. Sites are generally in the 200-400 square-foot range and consist of milkweed plants and a variety of flowering nectar plants. Milkweed is the main food for monarch caterpillars, and nectar plants such as flowers provide nourishment for adult butterflies.
SMMPA purchased the seeds and plants from Prairie Restorations of Princeton, Minnesota. Prairie Restorations “Sowing it Back Together” program uses native Minnesota plant species to help create habitat for pollinators like the monarch butterfly.
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