Iowa is the most altered landscape in the entire world. It is more endangered than the Great Barrier Reef or the tropical rainforest. Of Iowa’s 35 million acres, 30 million once were prairie. Now, only 350,000 acres of it remain.
A small step to change that is being made through the Mowing to Monarchs program in Dubuque County. Instead of grass lawns that must be mowed and do not contribute to the environment, people are planting pocket prairies of native plants that help with water infiltration, soil rebuilding, and provide fertile landing areas for Monarch butterflies and a variety of additional species. A pocket prairie is a 10’ x 10’ area planted with native habitat, and there are over 500 homeowners in the county who are currently participating in the project.
“It started off in just these little patches of habitat, these little pocket prairies, but what you can see now throughout Dubuque County is they’re creating little corridors, little veins of habitat, little pathways where sensitive pollinators can utilize on their migrational journey to others places,” said Kaytlan Moeller, Outreach Coordinator for Dubuque County Conservation and the force behind the program.
The corridor has seen the return of the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, officially listed as endangered in Iowa, as well as serving as a home for other bees, butterflies, caterpillars, dragonflies, and tree frogs.
The program provides homeowners with the initial selection of native plants to convert sections of maintained turf grass over to pollinator-friendly habitats and coaching to ensure that the garden is successful.
“It is a three-year commitment,” said Moeller. “We made it that way because the prairies are sleeping on the first year, creeping on their second year, and leaping on their third. Because of the long-building root systems, we have to commit to the three-year process, and we stick with them through those years.”
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