Community Profile

Pledge Status

Did Not Report

Pledge Date

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Program Year

2021

Links and Uploads

View Links and Uploads

Action Item Report

View Report
Download Report

City of Klamath Falls

Klamath Falls, OR

Carol Westfall

Mayor

Pledge Summary

The City of Klamath Falls is the seat of Klamath County Oregon with a population of 21,335 Citizens. The city is on the southeastern shore of the Upper Klamath Lake and about 25 miles north of the California-Oregon border. We are fortunate to live in a rural area that is surrounded by wetlands, Northern flyway for migratory birds, forest, and lakes. We value the great outdoor experience with numerous hiking, and biking trails. I am thrilled that our City Parks has been practicing the importance of planting pollinator plants and a assortment of wildflower seeds to attract migratory butterflies. As Mayor of Klamath Falls, I am signing on with the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge to further this important campaign throughout the city to save the Monarch Butterfly and other pollinators.

Community Spotlight

Action Items Committed for 2021

Communications and Convening

  • Engage with community garden groups and urge them to plant native milkweeds and nectar-producing plants.
  • 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.
  • Engage with developers, planners, landscape architects, and other community leaders and organizers engaged in planning processes to identify opportunities to create monarch habitat.
  • Create a community art project to enhance and promote monarch and pollinator conservation as well as cultural awareness and recognition.
  • 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.

Program and Demonstration Gardens

  • 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.
  • Plant milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants along roadsides, medians, or public rights-of-way.
  • 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).
  • Add or maintain native milkweed and nectar-producing plants in gardens in the community.
  • Display educational signage at monarch gardens and pollinator habitat.

Systems Change

  • Remove milkweed from the list of noxious plants in city weed / landscaping ordinances (if applicable).
  • Increase the percentage of native plants, shrubs and trees that must be used in city landscaping ordinances and encourage use of milkweed, where appropriate.
  • Launch, expand, or continue an effort to change municipal planting ordinances and practices to include more native milkweed and native nectar producing plants at city properties.
  • Integrate monarch butterfly conservation into the city’s Park Master Plan, Sustainability Plan, Climate Resiliency Plan or other city plans.