Tell Your Representative to Support Funding for Pollinator Habitat

From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):

Habitat loss is a major factor in the declines of monarch butterflies and other key pollinators.¹

With the monarch fluttering quickly toward extinction, it’s critical that we seize key opportunities to protect this beloved, iconic creature. Right now Congress is considering funding to create pollinator-friendly habitat along roadsides.²

Go to https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=46402 to tell your U.S. House representative: Support funding to provide our nation’s pollinators with healthy, abundant habitat.

Wildlife already benefits from habitat created by a number of state departments of transportation, such as in California, Florida and Minnesota.³ The funding provided by the infrastructure bill would build on those policies and support pollinator habitat development in even more areas.

More than 10 million acres of land are along U.S. roadsides, and these areas can help increase foraging and nesting areas locally for native bees and nationally for migratory species like monarchs.

Along with beautifying our roadways, these areas can offer an additional boost to nearby farms, improving crop yields while reducing pests.⁴

Send a message to your representative asking him/her to support more habitat for our pollinators.

In addition to increasing habitat along our transportation corridors, the bill provides funding to reclaim areas overtaken by invasive plant species with native vegetation that benefits our pollinators and local ecosystems.

1. “Disappearing Pollinators,” The Pennsylvania State University, last accessed September 14, 2021.
2. “H.R.3684 – Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,” U.S. Congress, last accessed September 14, 2021.
3. “Pollinators and Roadsides: Best Management Practices for Managers and Decision Makers,” U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, January 2016.
4. “Pollinators and Roadsides: Best Management Practices for Managers and Decision Makers,” U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, January 2016.