We confess: we had to get out and enjoy the day. A news digest, then we're going to fry some fish.
Dakota Skippers
Longtime readers know that the Lake Traverse Reservation is home the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and to one of the most robust populations of Dakota Skipper butterflies. KARE-11 reported on Friday in MN Zoo working to restore two endangered butterfly species.
Watch the video report there. KARE-11 reports:
At the Minnesota Zoo's butterfly conservation compound, there are creatures who have taken this social-distancing thing very seriously.
"I haven't seen any of these caterpillars since last October [when] we wrapped them up in their individual little vials," Butterfly Conservation Specialist Cale Nordmeyer said.
Only now, in April, is he getting to say hello again, because the endangered butterfly species has been hibernating, so to speak.
"This is the time of year, where we're actually waking up our Dakota Skipper butterflies," Nordmeyer said. "They actually overwinter as a half grown caterpillar. One of their superpowers is their ability to overwinter and survive the crazy weather conditions that Minnesota weather throws at them. They actually form antifreezing agents in their body-- similar to what you throw in your car--to prevent ice crystals from forming in their bodies and shredding up their tissue, to survive winter, out in the Minnesota prairie covered with snow before waking up in the spring and continuing their life cycle."
And while many are familiar with the declining numbers of monarch butterflies, the Dakota Skippers and the Poweshiek Skipperlings are both native species on a rapid decline as well.
"So when we hear the word endangered species we often think about species that are far away," Nordmeyer said. "The Dakota Skippers and the Poweshiek Skipperling, really, we are in triage mode. So species like the Poweshiek Skipperling, maybe global population - fewer than a 150 animals left. And right now we have about a 1/3 of that at the MN Zoo."
He said it's crucial we don't lose these butterflies.
"We're really close to that happening," Nordmeyer said. "Butterflies like the Poweshiek Skipperling and the Dakota Skippers represented at some point some of the most numerous butterflies in the Minnesota prairies. With the decline in prairies we've also seen a decline in these species and they're declining at a fast rate, if we don't intervene, we'll just lose them." . . .
Read the rest at KARE-11. Remember, the Minnesota Zoo is a state agency, and the pollinator project was started with funds from "Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Disney Conservation Fund through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Conservation Grants Fund, the Minnesota Clean Water Land and Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. . . ", according to a 2017 article.
Lawns to Legumes & Equity
The University of Minnesota reports on recognition the wildly successful Lawns to Legumes program is getting in Lawns to Legumes program received in Pollinator Protection Program Keeps Conservation, Equity in Focus
Government Innovation in Minnesota highlights stories of innovation from government offices around the state of Minnesota and the Native nations that share its geography. Here we highlight the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources’ Lawns to Legumes pilot program — a first-of-its-kind, statewide initiative designed to assist Minnesotans in creating new pollinator habitat, and call residents into action to protect pollinators.
Pollinator species worldwide have been declining for decades, and organizations around the United States have committed to reestablishing pollinator habitat.
Here in Minnesota, the state's Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) launched a pilot program called Lawns to Legumes to help protect 450 species of native bees, including the federally endangered rusty-patched bumble bee, and other pollinators from the effects of climate change, pesticides, and habitat disruption.
The program is partnering with more than a dozen organizations such as nonprofits, private businesses, state and local government agencies, and academic institutions to empower Minnesota residents to take action to protect pollinators in their own living spaces—such as transitioning from typical grass lawns toward yards with pollinator-friendly native plants, including legumes such as prairie clover and partridge pea.
Program partners want to bring residents of Minnesota into the work of protecting land and resources, and to make conservation accessible to individual contributors by focusing on equity and environmental justice.
Lawns to Legumes, so named by legislators who crafted the bill to fund the program, originated when Minnesotans concerned by the loss of pollinator species began asking state leaders and legislators how they could help.
The program received $900,000 in 2019 from the state’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund to begin this work. Now, the program offers resources to support residential pollinator habitat across the state.
It holds workshops for homeowners on how to redesign their yards to be more conducive to pollinators such as bees, butterflies, moths, and beetles, with particular emphasis on the rusty-patched bumble bee. It also has extensive online resources including planting guides and recommended practices.
The program has provided funding to applicants from around the state to help pay for installing native plantings, and created “demonstration neighborhoods” in collaboration with local government and nonprofit organizations to provide examples of landscape redesigns. These resources are intended to provide access to those who want to protect pollinators and convince others to do the same.
Read the rest at the Humphrey school's newspage.
Egg Addling and Senator Senjem
Go read Minnesota state senator wants moratorium on 'egg oiling' that keeps goslings from hatching at the Star Tribune. A taste:
Sen. Dave Senjem says Rochester's oiling of eggs to cut off oxygen is "offensive."
We'll be back tomorrow.
Photo: A Dakota skipper butterfly. Via FWS.
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