Community Profile

Pledge Status

Active

Pledge Date

Monday, March 9, 2026

Program Year

2026

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Action Item Report

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City of Reno

Reno, NV

Devon Reese

Reno City Councilmember

Pledge Summary

The City of Reno, Nevada sits at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains along the Truckee River and is home to more than 275,000 residents in the heart of the Truckee Meadows. Reno is committed to protecting and enhancing habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators that are essential to healthy ecosystems and sustainable communities. Reno is proud to be a Bee City USA affiliate, reflecting our community’s commitment to pollinator protection. The city works with local partners, community groups, and residents to support pollinator-friendly practices including the planting of native and drought-tolerant plants, creation of pollinator gardens, and educational outreach about the importance of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. Through our Parks and Recreation Department, urban forestry initiatives, and community beautification programs, Reno continues to expand green spaces and incorporate pollinator-friendly landscaping in parks, medians, and public areas. Local organizations, schools, and volunteers also play an important role in creating habitat and raising awareness throughout the community. By participating in the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge, Reno reaffirms its commitment to protecting monarch butterflies and other pollinators while continuing to build a resilient and environmentally responsible community for future generations.

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 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Display educational signage at monarch gardens and pollinator habitat.

Systems Change

  • Change weed or mowing ordinances to allow for native prairie and plant habitats.
  • Increase the percentage of native plants, shrubs and trees that must be used in city landscaping ordinances and encourage use of milkweed, where appropriate.
  • 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.
  • 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.