Getting Outside to Help Pollinators - During a Tough Year
Photo by Kathryn Webster
It's no secret. This year has been a tough one for pollinators in Utah. But there's one thing that gives us hope: YOU, our Utah Pollinator Pursuit volunteers!
Thank you to everyone finding and logging pollinators, from all kinds of bumblebees to some rare monarch caterpillars. Data is coming from all across the state, from high in Utah's mountains to beflowered backyards.
If you haven't yet joined, it's not too late. Keep reading to learn how to get involved.
Thank You to Our Field Trip Volunteers
Thank you to all our volunteers who joined us for our June field day examining pollinator habitat on a landowner's property. Thanks to your work, the landowner and pollinator resource experts now have the information needed to create plans for improving monarch and bumble bee habitat on the land.
A large proportion of potential monarch habitat is privately owned in the state of Utah, so this kind of work is especially important.
Volunteer Highlight: Becky Yeager
Why is participating in pollinator conservation important to you? Pollinators are indicators of the overall health of our environment. When pollinators began to decline, we know that we are also harming our Earth, our food sources, and ourselves. I believe we all need to be doing our part to reduce those impacts by preserving habitat and movement corridors, reducing our chemical use, and participating in citizen scientist programs to help collect vital data. We can do better!
Becky Yeager, Volunteer Highlight, at the Pollinator Festival
Tell us about your involvement with pollinators. I have been involved with pollinators for about ten years since when I started looking for eggs and larvae in my own yard with my young girls. This learning experience quickly grew into what we hoped would become meaningful conservation efforts for myself and children.
Although I have had many favorite projects along the way, the best is up and coming. Along with my partners at USU and UDWR, I am just starting on a pilot project for UDOT in which we will design and install the first pollinator habitat at a Utah Rest Area. I also have two Steward Sites that I currently monitor in northern Utah as part of the Utah Pollinator Pursuit program.
What has been your favorite part about the project so far? Learning about bumble bees! I am constantly watching for not only monarchs, but bumble bees in my yard to report through Survey123. I love to watch the bumble bees forage and am trying to learn the different species.
Do you have any project stories you'd like to share? One of the pollinator projects I have been involved with for the past several years is Firefly Park in Nibley, Utah. We began to develop a pollinator garden at Firefly Park three years ago. It has become a weekly community effort of weeding, planting, and mulching. Firefly Park contains a large, naturally occurring population of milkweed in the areas surrounding the pollinator garden. Two years ago, I conducted a study for Xerces in which I searched for eggs, larvae, and adult monarchs along set transects every two weeks. During that time, I saw a few adults flit by but no eggs or larvae. Last year, I was very pleased to find two caterpillars on the milkweed near our pollinator garden, indicating that monarchs are successfully breeding at the park. Perhaps, a mark of success for our garden?
Winged Wonders
Thank you to everyone who visited us at the Winged Wonders Festival in Nibley! We can't wait to have you join the project.
Please contact us if you have any questions as you get started recording your pollinator sightings.
How to Start Conserving Pollinators
1 - Watch the training recording.
2 - Visit the Utah Pollinator Pursuit page, where you can choose whether to become a Site Steward and/or Opportunistic Volunteer, download the Survey123 app, and find helpful identification and project resources.
3 - If you are getting involved as a Site Steward, or checking a particular site multiple times per year, sign up for a Monarch Site. (Opportunistic Volunteers can take data wherever they see monarchs or bumble bees!)
4 - Review project materials (see "Training Resources" below) as needed.
5 - Start collecting pollinator data, whether on a hike, in your garden, or at a Monarch Site! Don't forget to include photos.
6 - Spread the word. Share photos and quotes with us to help us reach more potential volunteers to support pollinator conservation. Don't forget to tag us in your posts!
Volunteer Resources
Some helpful resources are included below.
Printable PDFs on identifying monarchs, milkweed, and bumble bees.
Resources for using Survey123:
Utah Pollinator Pursuit page, where you can view additional resources and information about the project.
Wild Utah Project pollinator page, where you can view updates if you miss them in your inbox and print flyers to have on hand during site visit.
A copy of the bee guide is also available through the Survey123 app.
Do you have questions about getting involved? Feel free to contact us at the emails below:
Amanda Barth, Rare Insect Conservation Coordinator - abarth@utah.gov
Mindy Wheeler, Rare Plant Conservation Coordinator - mindywheeler@utah.gov
Mary Pendergast - Conservation Ecologist - mary@wildutahproject.org
To help us get more data on this important project, please share this email with anyone else who might be interested.
Thank you for everything you do to conserve our special insects in the West. This work would not be possible without you. Don't hesitate to email us at info@wildutahproject.org with any questions.