Community Profile

Pledge Status

Did Not Report

Pledge Date

Friday, April 15, 2022

Program Year

2022

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Action Item Report

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City of Thornton

Thornton, CO

Jan Kulmann

Mayor

Pledge Summary

Thornton Colorado is situated on the planes, east of the Rocky Mountain Front Range and just north of Denver, Colorado. Thornton is a quickly growing city, going from 60,000 in 1990 and now, slightly under 150,000. The City of Thornton residents and municipal government have a gowning sense and understanding of the importance of the monarch butterfly, both as a keystone species for environmental health as well as symbolic social importance of the monarch butterfly to North America.

Community Spotlight

Action Items Committed for 2022

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.
  • Create a community art project to enhance and promote monarch and pollinator conservation as well as cultural awareness and recognition.
  • 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 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 community garden groups and urge them to plant native milkweeds and nectar-producing plants.

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.
  • Add or maintain native milkweed and nectar-producing plants in gardens in the community.
  • Initiate or support community science (or citizen science) efforts that help monitor monarch migration and health.
  • Plant milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants along roadsides, medians, or public rights-of-way.
  • Facilitate or support a milkweed seed collection and propagation effort.
  • Host or support a native seed or plant sale, giveaway or swap.

Systems Change ▸

  • 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.
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