Two electric cooperatives in the migratory path of the monarch butterfly recently won reimbursement grants for pollinator projects that will not only nurture bees and butterflies but also cultivate relationships with the communities they serve.
The Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group based at the University of Illinois Chicago awarded $7,500 to Minnkota Power Cooperative in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and $7,000 to Price Electric Cooperative in Phillips, Wisconsin, to turn acres near their headquarters into pollinator habitat by next summer.
Both co-ops will embed walking trails and educational signage so their pollinator projects can be enjoyed by visitors.
Minnkota’s approximately half-mile trail will loop around 5 to 6 acres of native prairie that will be developed just outside its home offices. Invasive plants will be removed by contractors before the land is seeded with native grasses and forbs that will bloom in the spring and welcome the monarch and many other butterflies and bees, said Kacey Borin, an environmental specialist at the generation and transmission co-op.
This project will help Minnkota and its members meet acreage obligations set by the Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) for the monarch, which the G&T signed this year, she said. The voluntary agreement ensures enrollees will not face conservation requirements beyond those in the CCAA should the monarch be listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Price Electric is developing about 5 acres of pollinator foliage and a half-mile gravel trail on a 35-acre parcel of remnant farmland the co-op purchased several years ago to build its offices.
Assisted by the local fire department, the co-op directed a controlled burn to eliminate the property’s invasive plants and allow native grasses and flowers to reemerge, said Evan Harding, Price Electric’s geographic informational systems technician.
The upcoming trails and pollinator habitats are already creating a buzz at Minnkota and Price Electric.
“We are looking forward to this space serving as a multidisciplinary hub for our board, staff and visitors,” said Borin. “We host tours for many groups of industry professionals and students, and this pollinator trail will provide an enjoyable checkpoint for them to learn about our CCAA commitments.”
Harding sees the projects as an efficient use of resources and a way to fulfill the co-op principle of concern for community. Price Electric is looking into volunteer activities to help remove non-native brush and learning events for children at the habitat.
“This pollinator project is another way we can get engagement with our community,” said Harding. “In addition to walking the trails, members can just come out learn a little bit more about pollinators.”
Cathy Cash is a staff writer for NRECA.