Community Profile

Pledge Status

Complete

Pledge Date

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Program Year

2023

Achievement

Signatories

2023

Links and Uploads

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Action Item Report

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City of Moorhead

Moorhead, MN

Shelly Carlson

Mayor

Pledge Summary

The City of Moorhead is a small city of 44,668 people in the Lake Agassiz basin. The land is prone to flooding, and some land along the Red River has been restored to native prairie or enhanced through the Urban Woods and Prairies Initiative through Audubon Great Plains. We are also working with Wildlife Forever and United Prairie Foundation on prairie plantings in two parks totaling 14 acres. We added 3 smaller pocket prairies (~300 square feet each) in 3 parks. Many residents in the community are interested in pollinator conservation.

Community Spotlight

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Public Works Pollinator Planting

Forestry, Parks Maintenance staff, and a Forestry Corps member converted over 4,000 square feet of lawn into a pollinator bed. Over 600 plants were planted, consisting of over 90 species of nectar-producing and host plants for local butterflies.

Action Items Committed for 2023

Communications and Convening

  • 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.
  • 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.)

Program and Demonstration Gardens

  • Launch, expand, or continue an invasive species removal program that will support the re-establishment of native habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
  • Plant or maintain a monarch and pollinator-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or another prominent or culturally significant community location.

Systems Change

  • Change weed or mowing ordinances to allow for native prairie and plant habitats.