Streator resident says volunteers want to plant monarch butterfly habitats in the city

Streator resident Nina Vaughn remembers taking trips as a child to Oakland Park School, laying on the ground and being surrounded by monarch butterflies.

She wants to recreate the same experience for future generations, including her granddaughter, who enjoys going with her to her garden and seeing the butterflies.

Unfortunately, the monarch butterfly, Illinois’ state insect, was listed this summer as endangered on the International Union of Conservation of Nature’s Red List of threatened species.

Vaughn told the Streator Park Board on Wednesday she has gathered about 40 volunteers willing to do their part to help create a healthy environment for the monarchs. She said the volunteers are willing to plant milkweed, pollinator gardens and buckwheat in city parks or vacant city-owned properties to help the butterflies.

Vaughn said the project would work on many levels. The gardens would provide food and habitats for the monarch butterflies, and also beautify the city and possibly eliminate the amount of property the public works department needs to mow.

The Park Board encouraged the ideas.

“I think this is great,” Gary Wheeler, chairman of the Park Board, told Vaughn.

Public Works Director Jeff Long said Wednesday there is land on the north portion of Marilla Park where Vaughn could plant a buckwheat field and he said he would supply a map of other city-owned properties where gardens seem feasible.

Mayor Tara Bedei agreed saying planning will move forward, following council approval. She said she’ll likely ask the council for a consensus at a committee of the whole meeting, rather than taking a vote, since the project will not involve any city spending.

Wheeler said if the buckwheat field is a success, the Park Board would be open to suggesting more gardens in other parks.

Several locations were mentioned as possible garden locations from a variety of sources throughout the meeting, indicating the Hopalong Cassidy Canoe Launch, the city welcome sign locations and the Greenway trails as possible sites.

Vaughn said she has made her own garden a Monarch Waystation, which is its own conservation program. Monarch Waystations are places that provide resources necessary for monarchs to produce successive generations and sustain their migration, according to the program’s website. Without milkweeds throughout their spring and summer in North America, monarchs would not be able to produce the successive generations that culminate in the migration to Mexico each fall. Similarly, without nectar from flowers these fall migratory monarch butterflies would be unable to make their migration, the website said.

Vaughn demonstrated one of the signs at Wednesday’s meeting and said she would like to gain the designation for more Streator sites. Anyone interested can go to https://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/#register for more information on how to create a waystation.

Neighboring communities Ottawa, La Salle and Peru each have garden areas designated for monarchs, she said.

“I am really passionate about the butterflies,” Vaughn said. “I think it would be a huge asset to our community if we are able to educate everyone on the monarchs and beautify our town.”