Our Work in Pollinator Recovery

Insect pollinators, such as bumble bees and butterflies, are an important part of food production for humans and wildlife, and are the key to plant reproduction in Minnesota and the world. Unfortunately, pollinator populations in the U.S. have been falling for decades. This situation has become so important that the Minnesota state legislature, the Governor’s Office, and even the White House, have issued official policies that prioritize this issue for all of us.

Vegetation restoration and pollinator management are intricately related. To merge the best science from both fields, and have a broad public engagement, Great River Greening has been hard at work on past, present, and future projects aimed at engaging volunteers in pollinator habitat restoration, and citizen science monitoring.

National Fish and Wildlife Monarch Butterfly Conservation 2016

Led by Great River Greening, a large partnership of conservation organizations and government agencies (including U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, MnDNR, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and County Parks) worked together to address the plight of the Monarch butterfly through coordinated and targeted restoration/enhancement work across the Twin Cities Metro and adjacent Anoka Sand Plain Ecoregion. Private match dollars helped leverage this grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, one of only 20 grants awarded, and the only one in Minnesota in the 2016 round. We restored over 1300 acres of prairie, savanna, and shoreland habitat through site prep, seeding of a diverse native seed mix (rich in milkweed and Monarch nectar plants), and subsequent management to ensure restoration efforts are successful.

In 2016 and 2017, Great River Greening and an extensive network of volunteers embarked on the Million Milkweed Seed Initiative and collected over 1.8 million seeds of four local milkweed species from carefully tracked locations. These seeds were either planted directly or grown into plugs for public and private restoration sites and private landowners throughout the Twin Cities Metro and Anoka Sand Plain Ecoregion. The Million Milkweed Seed Initiative has engaged over 500 volunteers, in the collection, direct seeding, and plugging of the four milkweed species.

Conservation Haying for Pollinators and Prairie

From 2015 to 2017, Great River Greening implemented conservation haying on over 80 acres of restored prairie in the South Washington Conservation Corridor, one of our long term restoration sites. In collaboration with the Xerces Society, we assessed the impacts of conservation haying on vegetation, soil nutrients, and pollinator abundance and diversity. The study revealed that conservation haying resulted in significantly more forb coverage, and a significantly higher forb to grass ratio, when compared to un-hayed units. Additionally, Xerces observed an increase in native bee abundance and diversity in hayed units for the month of May. These results support conservation haying as an appropriate tool for periodic thatch removal and disturbance, to which prairie plants are adapted, and can promote early floral resources for pollinators.

Prairie Restoration with June Floral Focus

In partnership with the South Washington Watershed District, Great River Greening is beginning prairie reconstruction on 40 acres of previously farmed land, adjacent to the Conservation Haying for Pollinators and Prairie study area above. This study identified a lack of June floral resources at the site, which prompted us to design a seed mix that emphasizes June-blooming forbs. Through a grant from the Conservation Partners Legacy Program, we are able to extend our existing budget to 1) purchase a seed mix rich in early, mid-, and late-blooming forbs; 2) dedicate staff time to appropriately stratify forb seeds to better ensure establishment after Spring 2019 planting; and 3) purchase and install plugs of June flowering forbs in time to bloom in the first year.

Six Mile Marsh Pollinator Survey

An additional study assessing vegetation, soil, and pollinator responses to conservation haying, as well as prescribed burning and inter-seeding, is currently underway with the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District at the

Six Mile Marsh Prairie in Minnetrista

This approximately 100-acre site has been planted into a well-established tallgrass prairie and is now being managed to increase the species diversity of both plants and pollinators. Baseline surveys have been completed, management is underway, and monitoring will continue in 2019 and 2020.

Citizen Science for Pollinator Monitoring and Habitat

A collaboration of Great River Greening, Xerces Society, and Maplewood Nature Center provided a suite of engagement opportunities for 1200 citizens to actively learn about pollinators, pollinator-plant interactions, prairie restoration, and pollinator lawns. Offerings ranged from citizen science non-lethal bumble bee surveys, focused training and surveying to pollinator type, and K-12 school outings with expert interpretation and hands-on restoration. Significantly, this project resulted in documentation of the federally listed Rusty Patch Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis) for the first time at one site.

Pollinators in Agricultural Landscapes

Funded by a range of organizations, Great River Greening’s Watersheds Program works with willing landowners and farmers in targeted watersheds to implement voluntary best management practices (BMP) that protect and restore habitat for insect pollinators. These efforts include integrating practices such as planting native plant buffers, adding flowering plants to the landscape, and minimized tillage and precision pesticide and fertilizer applications. Great River Greening works with Soil and Water Conservation District offices in providing restoration and technical expertise, engagement activities by reaching out to farmers and urban residents, organizing field days to demonstrate practices, and grant writing skills to raise funds for implementation.

Pollinator Seed Initiative

Supported in large part by a grant from the Butler Family Foundation, Great River Greening is leading a partnership of five NGOs, municipalities, and counties to address a critical gap in pollinator seed supply. Our primary goal is to create local sources of genetically appropriate seed which could be harvested when commercial seed suppliers lack sufficient inventory. Partners are establishing grow-out areas, planted either as part of habitat restoration efforts or as stand-alone nurseries. For species that are difficult to establish by direct seeding, we will contract greenhouses to propagate plugs for planting. Recent studies show that wild-selected seed such as the ones this program will produce can be some of the most successful in area restorations.

Valley Park Pollinator Corridor

Valley Park in Mendota Heights is a linear natural area along a tributary connecting the Mississippi River to the south metro habitat cores. One area with a high potential for improved pollinator habitat is the utility line corridor, maintained by Xcel Energy. This maintenance activity is compatible with a high diversity shrub/prairie planting which will be designed specifically to support the local pollinator community. This restoration will be a model project for the large acreage in Minnesota under utility easement.

General Mills Pollinator Grant

Great River Greening has received a grant from the General Mills Foundation as part of their special 65th anniversary grant series to establish pollinator plots at four sites throughout the greater Twin Cities metro area. Sites include the Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis Park, the Hmong American Farmers Association Farm in Vermillion Township, the Clearview Elementary School Forest in Clearview, and a nature preserve in Chanhassen. These projects are engaging local volunteers to plant and maintain plant species that will increase pollinator populations, as well as provide seed for future plantings.

Pollinator Central: Trust Fund Proposal

Currently in development, this program will restore habitats that support and grow the populations of pollinator species, focusing Species of Greatest Conservation Need. Sites will include traditional restorations such as degraded prairies and invaded forest edges, but will also stretch into non-traditional habitats to include lawn and turf conversions, trail and roadside pollinator plantings, stormwater basins, and ‘hopscotch’ corridors. Pollinator populations will be monitored throughout these restorations by Greening, Xerces Society, University of Minnesota Bee Lab, and citizen science volunteers to better understand the impact of this work and guide future restorations.