Community Profile

Pledge Status

Complete

Pledge Date

Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Program Year

2021

Achievement

2021

Links and Uploads

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Action Item Report

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BIDDEFORD

BIDDEFORD, ME

Alan Casavant

Mayor

Pledge Summary

Biddeford is a city of about 21,000 people. It is located in southern Maine, along the Atlantic coast, and it shares the Saco River with its Twin City of Saco. It is home to the University of New England, and, in the past few years, has been witnessing amazing redevelopment in its downtown and mill district. Once the home of a world famous textile industry, the brick buildings of the old mills have been transformed into housing, restaurants, distilleries, breweries, artist studios, and more. The Mayor of the City, in partnership with the city's many volunteers, has pledged to create habitat for the preservation of the Monarch butterfly.

Community Spotlight

Monarch at Williams Court

Each year, we continue to add wildflowers and native plantings to each of our four community gardens.

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.
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.
Add or maintain native milkweed and nectar-producing plants in gardens in the community.

Past Pledge Archive

Mayor Name	Program Year	Pledge Date	Achievement
Mayor Martin Grohman	2025	3/10/2025		View Pledge
Mayor Martin Grohman	2024	2/1/2024	Leadership Circle	View Pledge
Mayor Alan Casavant	2023	2/18/2023	Signatories	View Pledge
Mayor Alan Casavant	2022	2/25/2022	Leadership Circle	View Pledge
Mayor Alan Casavant	2021	4/27/2021	Signatories	View Pledge