Community Profile

Pledge Status

Complete

Pledge Date

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Program Year

2022

Achievement

Signatories

2022

Links and Uploads

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Action Item Report

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City of Alamo

Alamo, TX

Diana Martinez

Mayor

Pledge Summary

The City of Alamo (Alamo) was incorporated in 1924 and is a municipal government which is a Home Ruled city. This gives the city full power of local self- government, including the right to amend their adopted City Charter, as provided by the Constitution & laws of the State. Alamo was named for the Alamo Land and Sugar Company that is located within 7 miles of the Texas-Mexico border and serves as one of the Rio Grande Valley’s gateways to Mexico. Alamo has been nicknamed the “Land of Two Summers”, as Winter Texans and other visitor’s total 34,000 per year. Every winter, an estimated 20,000 Winter Texans live up to eight months in the City of Alamo. The City of Alamo is also called the “Refuge to the Valley” since traveling through Alamo will take you straight to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. It is a favorite of birdwatchers from all regions of the world. The city has been a grant recipient with the World Butterfly Center located in Mission, Texas for the establishment of butterfly gardens throughout the city. Through this grant award we able to plant 7 gardens (library, day care center, housing authority, 1 city parks, youth center, 2 elementary schools) and get staff trained on the appropriate maintenance of these gardens. The city is continuously working with Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge on the expansion and appropriate upkeep of these gardens. The city is in the process of creating 4 more butterfly gardens at city parks and expanding 3 current ones.

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Community Spotlight

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Mayor's Monarch Day Celebration

The Alamo Youth Center kiddos celebrated the Mayors National Monarch Day in the city of Alamo on September 17th, 2021. The kids were treated to the monarch travel map and they conducted lessons and arts and crafts to celebrate the Monarch Butterfly.

Action Items Committed for 2022

Communications and Convening

  • Issue a proclamation to raise awareness about the decline of the monarch butterfly and the species’ need for habitat. This proclamation must incorporate a focus on monarch conservation.
  • Engage with city parks and recreation, public works, sustainability, and other relevant staff to identify opportunities to revise and maintain mowing programs and milkweed / native nectar plant planting programs.

Program and Demonstration Gardens

  • Display educational signage at monarch gardens and pollinator habitat.
  • Launch or maintain an outdoor education program(s) (e.g., at schools, after-school programs, community centers and groups) that builds awareness and creates habitat by engaging students, educators, and the community in planting native milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants (i.e., National Wildlife Federation’s Schoolyard Habitats program and Monarch Mission curriculum).
  • Plant or maintain a monarch and pollinator-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or another prominent or culturally significant community location.

Systems Change

  • Integrate monarch butterfly conservation into the city’s Park Master Plan, Sustainability Plan, Climate Resiliency Plan or other city plans.