Pledge Status
Active
Pledge Date
Thursday, January 22, 2026
Program Year
2026
Links and Uploads
View Links and UploadsAction Item Report
Community Spotlight
Pollinator Seed Packets
The City of Crystal Lake has provided pollinator seed packets at community events throughout 2025. Specifically, butterfly weed packets have been provided to promote the Monarch Butterfly habitat and to encourage pollinator planting.
Invasive Species Treated
The City's ecological contractor continued to treat invasive species at the City-owned Three Oaks Recreation Area and various native gardens owned by the City of Crystal Lake. Invasive willows were treated and removed from the park in 2022.
Public Communication Efforts
The City of Crystal Lake has created a special web page on the City's website for the Mayors' Monarch Pledge. This is in addition to web pages that highlight green initiatives in the City.
Learn MoreAction Items Committed for 2026
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Homeowners Associations (HOAs), Community Associations or neighborhood organizations to identify opportunities to plant monarch gardens and revise maintenance and mowing programs.
- Create a community art project to enhance and promote monarch and pollinator conservation as well as cultural awareness and recognition.
- Host or support a native seed or plant sale, giveaway or swap.
- 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.
- Convert vacant lots to monarch 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).
- 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).
- Host or support a monarch neighborhood challenge to engage neighborhoods and homeowners' associations within the community to increase awareness, support community unity around a common mission, and/or create habitat for the monarch butterfly.
- 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.
- Host or support a monarch butterfly festival that is accessible to all residents in the community and promotes monarch and pollinator conservation, as well as cultural awareness and recognition.
- Display educational signage at monarch gardens and pollinator habitat.
- Remove milkweed from the list of noxious plants in city weed / landscaping ordinances (if applicable).
- Integrate monarch butterfly conservation into the city’s Park Master Plan, Sustainability Plan, Climate Resiliency Plan or other city plans.
- Reduce or eliminate the use of herbicides, pesticides, or other chemicals that are harmful to monarchs and pollinators and urban wildlife.
- Launch, expand, or continue one or more ordinances to reduce light pollution to benefit urban wildlife.
Past Pledge Archive
| Mayor Name | Program Year | Pledge Date | Achievement | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayor Haig Haleblian | 2026 | 1/22/2026 | View Pledge | |
| Mayor Haig Haleblian | 2025 | 3/6/2025 | Leadership Circle | View Pledge |
| Mayor Haig Haleblian | 2024 | 3/13/2024 | Signatories | View Pledge |
| Mayor Haig Haleblian | 2023 | 2/17/2023 | Leadership Circle | View Pledge |
| Mayor Haig Haleblian | 2022 | 12/22/2021 | Signatories | View Pledge |
| Mayor Haig Haleblian | 2021 | 3/31/2021 | Signatories | View Pledge |
