Earlier this month Champaign Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen renewed her pledge to help save the monarch butterfly and other pollinators by signing the National Wildlife Federation’s Mayors’ Monarch Pledge. Mayor Feinen has signed the pledge annually since 2016, making Champaign part of an expanding network of North American cities working to create habitat in public parks, public landscaping, medians, backyard gardens, and open spaces across our community.
In support of the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, the City of Champaign has worked to incorporate more pollinator-friendly plantings and habitats into City projects. This includes native plantings at the Second Street Basin, Preservation Pond, Glenn Park, the Upper Boneyard, east Green Street, and near the University of Illinois campus. Planning is also underway to add native plantings near the Police Department and another stretch of median along Town Center Boulevard.
Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen said, “I’m pleased to once again sign the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge and to see all the work the City is doing to help nurture pollinator habitats across the community. It’s encouraging to hear reports of an increasing population of monarchs overwintering in California and Mexico. Together we are having a positive impact and I’m proud that Champaign is part of that effort.”
For more information about the National Wildlife Federation’s Mayors’ Monarch Pledge, please visit NWF.org/MayorsMonarchPledge.