Nearly $760,000 in federal funds are coming to three western states, including Oregon, to help boost monarch butterfly populations.  U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley said the funding will benefit two projects in Oregon.

 

“One is to restore acres and make them better pollinator habitats, and also better acres for the monarch itself, which involves - you gotta make sure you’ve got some milkweed in there; the right type of milkweed.”

 

The “Xerces Society” will also use some of the money to distribute pollinator habitat kits in Oregon.  Merkley said the decline in Monarch populations is partly due to climate change.

 

“But mainly herbicides and pesticides are really decimating the monarch along the way," Merkley noted.  "Takes about four generations to come north, and then one generation to fly south.” 

 

Merkley believes saving the monarch and other pollinators ensures human survival, as well.

 

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