Community Profile

Pledge Status

Active

Pledge Date

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Program Year

2026

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Action Item Report

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Bella Vista

Bella Vista, AR

John Flynn

Mayor

Pledge Summary

Bella Vista is a city in Northwest Arkansas with a population of roughly 32,000. Originally created as a retirement and vacation resort town, the city consists of rolling hills, forests, that include over 115 miles of mountain bike trail, seven lakes, and seven golf courses. Residents are very active and care deeply about preservation of nature and its pollinators. Mayor Flynn is also committed to saving the monarch butterfly and natural forest area from an administration level. The City of Bella Vista looks forward to continuing to be a part of the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge program and taking meaningful steps to building and preserving more pollinator habitat throughout the city.

Community Spotlight

Action Items Committed for 2026

Communications and Convening

  • 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 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.
  • 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.

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.
  • 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).
  • Change weed or mowing ordinances to allow for native prairie and plant habitats.
  • Launch, expand, or continue one or more ordinances to reduce light pollution to benefit urban wildlife.