City of Elizabeth
Elizabeth, NJ
Chris Bollwage
Summary for 2023
Elizabeth is a city in northeastern New Jersey with a population of roughly 137,000. The city is located along the New Jersey-New York border, northwest of Staten Island. Home to approximately 46 parks and playgrounds, including the Elizabeth River Trail, Elizabeth Waterfront (Maricante Jackson-Millet Park) and MicroFarm and Environmental Center. Mayor J. Christian Bollwage of Elizabeth, New Jersey, with 3 community partners including Groundwork Elizabeth, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Refuge Association among others have officially committed to saving the monarch butterfly and other pollinators with the signing of the Mayors' Monarch Pledge and looks forward to continuing and expanding upon the current efforts within the city to create pollinator habitat and educate residents on the importance of pollinators for maintaining healthy ecosystems.
City of Aurora
Aurora, CO
Michael Coffman
Summary for 2023
More than 386,000 residents choose to live in Aurora, making it the third largest city in Colorado and the 54th largest in the United States. The city covers more than 160 square miles, and is located within three counties: Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas. Aurora boasts over 8,000 acres of open space, 119 miles of trail, 103 parks, 3 nature centers, and 2 reservoirs.
City of Marina
Marina, CA
Bruce Delgado
Summary for 2023
The City of Marina is in the “Priority #1 Action Zone” for monarch butterflies. Monarchs pass through Marina on their way to and from overwintering sites on other areas of the coast. Having abundant fuel in the form of native plant nectar on their migratory route is critical to their survival, therefore Marina can play an important role in supporting monarchs. Marina is already planting 1000's of native pollinator plants in city parks. As Mayor I personally spend several hours every week throughout the year leading propagation and native planting events to grow and increase the abundance of native pollinator plants in our wonderful city.
Village of Glenview
Glenview, IL
Michael Jenny
Summary for 2023
The Village of Glenview, Illinois is a suburb about 20 miles north of Chicago with a population of approximately 49,000. The Village has created a monarch conservation plan and includes milkweed and nectar plants in landscaping at numerous public facilities. The Village has also partnered with local schools to support their pollinator gardens and provides educational materials to encourage residents to create private pollinator gardens. At public events we often offer milkweed seed packets or milkweed plugs, and have created a web page describing monarch conservation efforts locally and nationally.
City of Charleston
Charleston, IL
Dr. Brandon Combs
Summary for 2023
Charleston is a city in east central Illinois with a population of roughly 17,000. The city is home to Eastern Illinois University, beautiful Lake Charleston, and is nearby the Warbler Ridge Conservation Area and Fox Ridge State Park. These amenities create a conservation corridor that spans over 4,000 acres. In partnership with the Urban Butterfly Initiative, the City has created 12 dedicated butterfly habitat “hotspots” in and around the City. With these efforts, from 2020-2022 the NWF announced Charleston a "Monarch Champion" community and Charleston has been named the “Butterfly Capital of Illinois”. Mayor Combs has committed to saving the monarch butterfly and other pollinators with the signing of the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge and looks forward to engaging residents in building more pollinator habitat throughout the city.
City of Crystal Lake
Crystal Lake, IL
Haig Haleblian
Summary for 2023
The City of Crystal Lake is located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, IL with a population of over 40,000 residents. Crystal Lake is home to two public lakes, multiple public parks, and community gardens. Mayor Haleblian has committed to saving the monarch butterfly and other pollinators with the signing of the Mayors' Monarch Pledge. The City of Crystal Lake looks forward to engaging with residents in building more pollinator habitats in the City.
City of Countryside
Countryside, IL
Sean McDermott
Summary for 2023
The City of Countryside is committed to increasing the Monarch butterfly population. Three gardens have been installed encompassing .56 acres in our City. In addition, we have educated the public and held free seed give-away events to encourage residents and businesses to plant native species.
Village of Flossmoor
Flossmoor, IL
Michelle Nelson
Summary for 2023
The Village of Flossmoor is a beautiful suburb of Chicago with just under 10,000 residents. We feature tree-lined streets, a variety of historic homes, excellent schools, a diverse and inclusive population, an extensive sculpture garden and sprawling parks, and a thriving small business community. Flossmoor is dedicated to green initiatives and has a Green Commission to help advance that work. As a village we have been working on replacing our tree canopy by planting hundreds of trees annually, we host a large annual recycling event and promote daily recycling activities, we maintain a free seed library, we discourage idling, we use native plantings in newly landscaped public areas, and in 2022 we installed a butterfly garden in one of our local parks and planted over 400 parkway trees with the assistance of a generous grant and LOTS of volunteers! Mayor Nelson is committed to saving the monarch butterfly and other pollinators with her signing of the Mayors' Monarch Pledge and looks forward to working with the Green Commission and residents to build more pollinator habitats throughout the village.
Village of Bloomingdale
Bloomingdale, IL
Franco Coladipietro
Summary for 2023
The Village of Bloomingdale is located in DuPage County, Illinois, about 25 miles west of downtown Chicago with a population of approximately 22,000 people. The Village participates in the DuPage Monarch Project, has been named a Tree City, USA for over 25 years and is committed to participating in environmental initiatives that help with monarch and pollinator conservation.
Village of Algonquin
Algonquin, IL
Debby Sosine
Summary for 2023
Algonquin is a town in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with a population of roughly 30,000. The city is nestled in the Fox River valley and is home to over 400 acres of restored natural area. President Sosine of Algonquin, IL has committed to saving the Monarch butterfly and other pollinators with the signing of the Mayors' Monarch Pledge and looks forward to engaging the community in establishing more pollinator habitat throughout the Village.
