The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (Wisconsin DNR) is dedicated to protecting and enhancing the ecosystems that sustain all life in their state. This includes both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, home to a great variety of wildlife, including monarch butterflies. In order to further their monarch conservation efforts, the Wisconsin DNR has joined the MJV partnership with hopes of increasing monitoring efforts across the state and protecting monarch habitat on both state and private lands.
”We’re looking forward to furthering our partnership with other organizations working on monarch conservation, both within and outside Wisconsin,” says Owen Boyle, Species Management Section Chief at the Wisconsin DNR. “Joining the Monarch Joint Venture will allow us to more fully integrate our monarch monitoring and habitat conservation work into regional and continent-wide efforts.”
With tens of thousands of acres of open land with diverse prairie, savanna, and barrens plants, and resources that promote pollinator habitat, like a new guide to landscaping and natural community restoration with native Wisconsin plants, the Wisconsin DNR is providing and encouraging the creation of crucial habitat and breeding grounds for the monarch butterfly. Beyond their efforts to protect and restore monarch habitat, the Wisconsin DNR supports the Wisconsin Citizen-based Monitoring Network, which includes monarch citizen science efforts and recently funded a series of monarch citizen science trainings throughout the state.
“With a growing number of MJV partners in Wisconsin, we’re already seeing the productive outcomes of local partnerships for monarchs within the state. The Wisconsin DNR plays an important role in bringing additional partners together on the state level and we’re excited for them to be a part of our national effort to conserve the monarch migration!” - Wendy Caldwell, MJV Coordinator.
The Wisconsin DNR has great resources and information about current projects on their website.
The Monarch Joint Venture is a national partnership of federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academic programs working together to conserve the monarch butterfly migration. The content in this article does not necessarily reflect the positions of all Monarch Joint Venture partners.
Header photo by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources