Community Profile

City of Fayetteville

Fayetteville, AR

Molly Rawn

Mayor

Pledge Summary

Fayetteville, Arkansas is a city of approximately 103,000 people located in the Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas and home to the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville and the Northwest Arkansas region has experienced unprecedented growth in recent decades, due in part the area’s scenic beauty, low cost of living, and the home presence of multiple fortune 500 companies such as Walmart and Tyson Foods, which have brought new jobs and accelerated economic development. Fayetteville’s population has increased by approximately 40% from that of the 2010 census count of 73,580. This rapid growth will undoubtedly impact the local ecology without proactive efforts to protect our natural resources and ecosystem. By participating in the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge, Mayor Rawn is leading Fayetteville in taking steps to protect our monarch and pollinator populations through direct stewardship and educational activities. These efforts, bolstered by the participation of additional municipalities across the region, will serve to raise local awareness and increase pollinator habitat and the presence of the monarch butterfly in Fayetteville and throughout Northwest Arkansas.

Community Spotlight

Fayetteville GreenWayStation

This monarch waystation, installed in 2021 along the Razorback Regional Greenway at the Marion Orton Recycling Center, was planned, built and constructed by a dedicated volunteer (pictured here) in partnership with the City of Fayetteville.

Action Items Committed for 2025

Communications and Convening ▸

Launch or maintain a public communication effort to encourage residents to plant monarch gardens at their homes or in their neighborhoods. (If you have community members who speak a language other than English, we encourage you to also communicate in that language; Champion Pledges must communicate in that language.)
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.

Program and Demonstration Gardens ▸

Host or support a native seed or plant sale, giveaway or swap.
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.
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.

Systems Change ▸

Remove milkweed from the list of noxious plants in city weed / landscaping ordinances (if applicable).
Change weed or mowing ordinances to allow for native prairie and plant habitats.
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.

Past Pledge Archive

Mayor Name	Program Year	Pledge Date	Achievement
Mayor Molly Rawn	2025	3/28/2025		View Pledge
Mayor Lioneld Jordan	2024	3/22/2024	Leadership Circle	View Pledge
Mayor Lioneld Jordan	2023	3/20/2023	Leadership Circle	View Pledge
Mayor Lioneld Jordan	2022	4/27/2022	Leadership Circle	View Pledge
Mayor Lioneld Jordan	2021	3/30/2021	Leadership Circle	View Pledge

Pledge Status

Pledge Date

Program Year

Links and Uploads

Action Item Report