City of Greenfield
Greenfield, WI
Michael Neitzke
Summary for 2025
Greenfield, Wisconsin is a suburban city with a population of 37,000 located in Milwaukee County. With a mix of residential neighborhoods, parks, and commercial areas, Greenfield is known for its community-oriented atmosphere and commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship. Greenfield has made significant strides in pollinator conservation, particularly in support of monarch butterflies. The city is a proud member of the Monarch City & Bee City USA and the Bird City, WI initiatives. All three national movements encouraging municipalities to commit to preserving and enhancing habitat for monarchs and other pollinators. Key elements of Greenfield's conservation efforts include: planting pollinator gardens, educational outreach, community involvement and partnerships with schools, volunteers, and local groups. The city also promotes native plants and reduced pesticide use on public lands, where possible. These efforts show Greenfield’s ongoing dedication to protecting pollinators and promoting biodiversity.
Town of Trenton
Trenton, ME
Fred Ehrlenbach
Summary for 2025
Trenton is a small town of approximately 1,500 people. It is located at the gateway between the nearest metropolitan area of Ellsworth and Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island. In 2022 the town signed the Mayor's Monarch Pledge for the first time. Community volunteers planted two small demonstration pollinator gardens, one behind the town office and a second behind the Trenton Elementary School. The Select Board has pledged to help conserve the Monarch butterfly and to encourage its citizens to participate in community activities in relation to pollinator conservation.
City of Greensboro
Greensboro, NC
Nancy Vaughan
Summary for 2025
The City of Greensboro resides in the piedmont region of North Carolina with a population of roughly 300,000. Greensboro manages nearly 12,000 acres of parks and open spaces with assets including public gardens, regional and neighborhood parks, beautification areas, over 100 miles of trails and greenways, lakes, several community gardens, and numerous other passive and active recreational amenities and facilities. Through the establishment of multiple pollinator gardens and meadows, the development of educational signage and programming, and the identification of an ongoing need to reduce mowing and increase native habitat, the city has taken steps toward supporting our natural environment. Mayor Vaughan of Greensboro, NC has committed to saving the monarch butterfly and other pollinators with the signing of the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge and looks forward to further engaging residents in expanding pollinator habitat throughout the city. Recently the City has enacted policy requiring the use of native plants in new landscape plantings throughout City property while eliminating the use of invasive plants. Current efforts that the City of Greensboro is undertaking to support monarch habitats are the Bird & Butterfly Meadow at Price Park, pollinator gardens at the Keeley Park Community Garden, Wovenworks Park, and the Meeting Place Cornerstone along the Downtown Greenway, a partnership with the Guilford County Extension Master Gardeners to provide environmental education and multiple community partnerships for smaller pollinator gardens in parks. Additional extensive efforts by City of Greensboro involve partnering with Greensboro Beautiful at the Greensboro Arboretum, which includes a formal butterfly garden, a certified Monarch Waystation, interpretive signage specifically dedicated to monarchs, and an Ornamental Grass and Pollinator Meadow. The Pollinator Meadow includes Asclepias among its perennial plantings and features interpretive signage dedicated to broader pollinator preservation. Monarch butterflies have seen a decline in the past 50 years and by informing the public and plants for this species, the Greensboro Science Center plays a critical role in helping save these unique and crucial animals. The Greensboro Science Center is home to three butterfly gardens located throughout the zoo and is the home of the Cole Family Butterfly House and Monarch Conservation Project. The horticulture staff at the Greensboro Science Center maintain the gardens, which contain butterfly loving plants including milkweed. Water from rain collecting barrels help to irrigate the gardens. The Cole Family Butterfly House and Monarch Conservation Project spotlights native butterfly species, with a special emphasis on the iconic, but diminishing, monarch butterfly and creates a lush, verdant garden space that will bring attention to the life and plight of monarch butterflies; serves as another focal-point species to the Greensboro Science Center's Conservation & Research Department; informs the community of the importance of planting milkweed (monarch caterpillars’ sole source of food); creates a fun and dynamic seasonal exhibit filled with native butterflies; and adds a new educational experience focused on pollinators and their importance.
City of Easthampton
Easthampton , MA
Nicole LaChapelle
Summary for 2025
Easthampton, MA, is a small city of 16,000, nestled in Western MA's Pioneer Valley. In the winter of 2023, Easthampton completed a Pollinator Action Plan, outlining key action items for improving and expanding the City's pollinator habitats. In 2024, the City completed a comprehensive Climate Action Plan to inform action steps the City and residents can take toward monarch and pollinator conservation as well as decarbonization efforts. Additionally, in April of 2024 Easthampton was officially designated as a BEE CITY USA Affiliate.
Village of Yellow Springs
Yellow Springs, OH
Pam Conine
Summary for 2025
The Village of Yellow Springs, Ohio, is located in the SW corner of the state. Home of Antioch College, we have a population of 3700, give or take. Located 20 minutes east of Dayton, we are a quick hour west of our state capital, Columbus. Glen Helen, a 1000 acre nature preserve with over 21 miles of hiking trails along with creeks and waterways that feed into the Little Miami Scenic River, runs the length of the village and connects to the Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve and John Bryan State Park. Yellow Springs has a Wildlife Habitat Community public Facebook page with 575 members--check us out! Many villagers are rewilding their properties under the leadership of our village Environmental Commission and at last count, we have over 120 NWF Certified Wildlife Habitat signs that dot village yards, including our two public schools. Mayor Pam is happy to add the Mayors' Monarch Pledge to our village efforts in support of increasing habitats for monarchs and other pollinators.
City of Sanford
Sanford, FL
Art Woodruff
Summary for 2025
Sanford, a charming city in central Florida with a population of 61,051, is nestled along the scenic Lake Monroe, a tributary of the St. Johns River. Boasting over 300 acres of picturesque parks, the city offers residents and visitors a serene escape into nature. Among its many attractions are a vibrant Community Garden and dedicated Monarch Butterfly gardens, highlighting Sanford's status as the 9th designated Monarch City USA in Florida. The city's commitment to preserving pollinators and protecting the Monarch Butterfly population is truly commendable. By encouraging residents to create pollinator habitats throughout the area, Sanford sets an inspiring example of how communities can come together to nurture biodiversity and sustainability.
Village of Lincolnwood
Lincolnwood , IL
Jesal Patel
Summary for 2025
The Village of Lincolnwood is located approximately 10 miles north of downtown Chicago and serves as the gateway to Chicagoland’s North Shore. It is an diverse community of 12,590 residents, with tree-lined streets, beautiful neighborhoods and parks, an excellent school system, and prosperous business community. The Village commitment to monarch's is strong through efforts to improve or create new native plantings and communications related to sustainable landscaping in the Village's parks, trails, and right of ways.
City of Wheat Ridge
City of Wheat Ridge, CO
Bud Starker
Summary for 2025
Wheat Ridge is a thriving small city just outside of Denver, Colorado, known for its strong sense of community, commitment to sustainability, and rich agricultural history. As part of our dedication to environmental stewardship, we recognize the vital role of pollinators in maintaining healthy ecosystems and supporting local biodiversity. Through initiatives like the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, Wheat Ridge is working to protect and enhance pollinator habitats by planting native species, educating residents, and promoting sustainable landscaping practices. By prioritizing these efforts, we aim to create a more resilient and vibrant environment for both people and wildlife.
City of Rosemount
Rosemount, MN
Jeff Weisensel
Summary for 2025
The City of Rosemount is 15 miles south of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. With land area of nearly 36 square miles, Rosemount residents enjoy the advantages of living in a community with both a small town and large metropolitan city atmospheres. Unusual for a city of its size, Rosemount combines industry, agriculture, and agricultural research with a rapidly growing residential community providing an excellent environment in which to live and work. Rosemount works to provide a number of butterfly habitat areas in our parks, open spaces, and community gardens.
City of Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro, OR
Beach Pace
Summary for 2025
Among other related commitments, Hillsboro is a US Conference of Mayors' climate champion, Tree City USA, Bee City USA and partner in the Backyard Habitat Certification Program. The Hillsboro community has demonstrated its commitment to the conservation of nature and wildlife, including the Monarch butterfly. Nestled in the Tualatin Valley of western Oregon, Hillsboro is Oregon's 5th largest city with 108,000 community members. Known for its diverse community, strong local economy, and beautiful natural areas, for decades Hillsboro's leaders have placed an emphasis on environmental stewardship. Strong goals and actions guide stewardship efforts for both the city organization, which provides a full suite of municipal services, and for the greater community. Hillsboro prides itself as having one of the largest preserved natural areas within the community, the several-hundred acre Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve, along with myriad other natural areas, parks and environmental assets.
