Improving Monarch Habitat on E4 Ranch
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Monarch butterfly populations have declined over recent decades due to degraded habitat, but Oregon landowners are making great strides to improve monarch habitat on private lands, with technical and financial assistance from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Milkweed is a critical component of monarch habitat because it’s the only plant on which they will lay their eggs, and it’s a vital food source for monarch caterpillars. Just one example of this partnership at work is the recent establishment of milkweed clusters on the E4 Ranch easement in Benton County, Oregon. Under this project, NRCS enrolled 192-acres of private land into a 30-year wetland easement in 2005. As part of the easement contract, NRCS and the USFWS provided financial and technical assistance to restore the site to its native wetland prairie condition. Before the restoration, the land was a flat pasture, filled with a single-species of grass for cattle grazing. Now, the site is a diverse landscape filled with native trees, plants, and shrubs—including pollinator habitat such as gumweed and milkweed. NRCS photo by Tracy Robillard.
Improving Monarch Habitat on E4 Ranch
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Monarch butterfly populations have declined over recent decades due to degraded habitat, but Oregon landowners are making great strides to improve monarch habitat on private lands, with technical and financial assistance from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Milkweed is a critical component of monarch habitat because it’s the only plant on which they will lay their eggs, and it’s a vital food source for monarch caterpillars. Just one example of this partnership at work is the recent establishment of milkweed clusters on the E4 Ranch easement in Benton County, Oregon. Under this project, NRCS enrolled 192-acres of private land into a 30-year wetland easement in 2005. As part of the easement contract, NRCS and the USFWS provided financial and technical assistance to restore the site to its native wetland prairie condition. Before the restoration, the land was a flat pasture, filled with a single-species of grass for cattle grazing. Now, the site is a diverse landscape filled with native trees, plants, and shrubs—including pollinator habitat such as gumweed and milkweed. NRCS photo by Tracy Robillard.