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Additional information on this topic provided below. |
Wings of Wonder
By Kelly Meinhart
 hat’s
the connection between butterflies and watersheds? Land use
and providing vital habitat for wildlife is the answer. As you
know, watersheds are not only all of the water resources within
a given area, but the land as well. And whatever we do to the
land we do to our water. So, not only does every action on land
affect our water, but every action on land affects the health
of our wildlife as well.
 hese
days Monarch butterflies, like many wildlife species throughout
the world, are in trouble. What you may not know about the eastern
U.S. population of Monarchs is that as soon as their metamorphosis
from caterpillar to butterfly is complete, they begin an 1800-mile
journey to Mexico. Eighteen hundred miles is a long way for
anyone to travel – let alone a tiny butterfly. Yet the
troubles for the Monarch are not only in the dangers of their
long journey – but also in the fact that their destination
habitats in Mexico are being destroyed by development and logging.
hankfully,
there are some folks out there who are looking out for the Monarch
butterfly. They’re not only trying to make things better
by protecting their habitat in Mexico, but also by creating
stopover habitats for them along their journey south. The Wildlife
Habitat Council (WHC) has been working with school groups and
corporations to create these habitat areas, and to provide educational
programs about Monarchs to help ensure that they continue their
long journeys. The WHC has offices in Maryland and in Pittsburgh,
PA.
he
WHC offers a variety of programs that are geared toward creating
partnerships between corporations, communities, and governmental
agencies for the purpose of improving and managing wildlife
habitat areas. When it comes to Monarchs, the group works with
corporations to create butterfly meadows that will be used as
a respite for the pollinators and as an outdoor classroom for
local middle school students. They call the program ‘Wings
of Wonder’.
he
Three Rivers Habitat Partnership (TRHP) in Pittsburgh, PA is
a ‘Waterways for Wildlife’ project of the Wildlife
Habitat Council, and works with landowners to develop and promote
partnerships across boundaries. It’s through the TRHP
that the Wings of Wonder program has spread across Western Pennsylvania
to at least 14 businesses.
 ne
of these businesses, PPG Industries, Inc., began building their
Monarch meadow in the summer of 2001 when TRHP guided PPG Industries
employees in planting a large butterfly meadow to serve as a
hands-on outdoor classroom. The meadow consists of over 5,000
plants in a 100’ X 100’ plot and includes wildflowers
and grasses that are native to Western Pennsylvania. These plants
support the life cycle needs of the Monarchs as well as hummingbirds,
native bees, and other pollinators.
recently visited with these groups on location at the PPG Monroeville
Technical Center – the location of the butterfly meadow.
It was a very foggy morning, and we feared that the butterflies
might not be very active due to the weather. But thankfully
it didn’t take long for the fog to lift and for the butterflies
to flutter about.
he
group included students and teachers from the Franklin Regional
and Gateway school districts, along with Bob Burpee of PPG,
and Marcia Maslonek from the WHC. While there we learned how
to identify a variety of butterfly species, along with bees,
meadow insects, caterpillars, birds, and of course the plants
and grasses that make up the meadow.
 r.
Tom Pearson, a fifth grade teacher at Sloan Elementary in the
Franklin Regional School District said it best with “It’s
a beautiful butterfly day!” and it truly was. It was so
inspirational to watch Mr. Pearson and the other teachers working
so closely with the students to understand the wonders of nature.
Not only were we learning about the butterflies but we were
also taking an active role in their preservation.
or every Monarch that the group netted, Mr. Pearson tagged it
with a tracking number. This number is simply a tiny sticker
that is attached to the butterfly’s wing, (which causes
them no harm) which allows researchers in Mexico to track where
the individual butterflies came from. It’s an exciting
process! After the butterfly is tagged, its direction is mapped
out – and for each of them we noted that they were heading
directly southwest, toward Mexico.
n addition to offering the wonderful school program in Western
PA, the WHC and TRHP also work with teachers in Mexico to further
advance the information spread about the importance of the Monarch.
In February of 2003 a group of six teachers, including Mr. Pearson,
traveled to Mexico in a ‘migration’ of their own,
to visit the Monarch reserves, and to meet with teachers in
San Juan Del Rio to help them and PPG employees create a second
PPG pollinator meadow – this time in Mexico.
he story of the partnership between these organizations, schools,
individuals, and corporations is truly inspirational for anyone
who wants to get people to work together in a hands-on approach.
I would encourage you to check out the Wildlife Habitat Council’s
website for even more information, click through the photo gallery
for examples of how the butterflies were netted and tagged,
and also to see the students who were a huge part of making
it all come together.
his
is also a story that will continue to grow as the organizations
work together, so you very well may see a follow-up story about
them on Watersheds.tv. Thanks to everyone who participated in
the meadow study and for allowing me to tag along!
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| Click on the photo
to enlarge it. |
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For additional information visit
 The
Wildlife Habitat Council
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