Pledge Status
Complete
Pledge Date
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
Program Year
2021
Achievement
2021
Links and Uploads
View Links and UploadsAction Item Report
Community Spotlight
Monarch Watch
Late summers, through the Monarch Watch Tagging Program, later generation Eastern Monarchs are tagged and released from High Bridge, NJ. The program helps scientists monitor the amazing annual Monarch migration.
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International Monarch Monitoring Blitz 2021
Monarch Habitat conservation efforts forged a partnership between High Bridge and neighboring municipality Clinton Township. Clinton Township Councilwoman Amy Brighton-Switlyk truly enjoyed identifying and counting Monarch eggs in High Bridge.
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Hands on Learning
High Bridge Middle School Student Miriam enjoyed being able to gain hands on learning at the neighborhood Monarch Habitat Conservation site during the COVID pandemic. After a few attempts she was able to remove some staking from a tarp.
For Our Pollinator Friends
High Bridge Resident Nancy Hunt has been growing Common Milkweed in her front yard for nearly 10 years. To avoid harming "our pollinator friends" she waits until the colony's 80 plants are well established, then trims around them with hand clippers.
Milkweed Maven
Longtime resident Colleen Haan cares for Monarchs every summer. This year she reared and released over 50 adult butterflies!
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High Bridge School District
High Bridge Middle School Environmental Club students are creating a wonderful pollinator garden on campus. Late November, students planted Common Milkweed seeds in an effort to increase vital Monarch habitat.
Action Items Committed for 2021
- 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.
- Engage with gardening leaders and partners (e.g., Master Naturalists, Master Gardeners, Nature Centers, Native Plant Society Chapters , other long-standing and influential community leaders) to support monarch butterfly conservation.
- Facilitate or support a milkweed seed collection and propagation effort.
- Plant or maintain a monarch and pollinator-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or another prominent or culturally significant community location.
- 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).
- Earn or maintain recognition for being a wildlife-friendly city by participating in other wildlife and habitat conservation efforts (i.e., National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat program).
- Initiate or support community science (or citizen science) efforts that help monitor monarch migration and health.
- Add or maintain native milkweed and nectar-producing plants in gardens in the community.
- Launch, expand, or continue an invasive species removal program that will support the re-establishment of native habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
- Display educational signage at monarch gardens and pollinator habitat.
- Increase the percentage of native plants, shrubs and trees that must be used in city landscaping ordinances and encourage use of milkweed, where appropriate.
Past Pledge Archive
| Mayor Name | Program Year | Pledge Date | Achievement | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayor Michele Lee | 2025 | 3/31/2025 | View Pledge | |
| Mayor Michele Lee | 2022 | 3/15/2022 | View Pledge | |
| Mayor Michele Lee | 2021 | 12/8/2020 | Leadership Circle | View Pledge |
