Santa Monica Mountains Fund has been providing plants to local residents with its Ambitious Project
The Santa Monica Mountains Fund is on a mission to give away 25,000 narrow-leaf milkweed plants to residents in Los Angeles and Ventura counties to restore this native plant species and feed the dwindling monarch butterfly population in the region.
With a goal of 25,000 this summer, 17,000 plants have been given away to residents so far. Starting in the fall, another 25,000 milkweed plants will be planted around the Santa Monica Mountains.
Monarch butterflies need milkweed to survive. That’s where officials and several nonprofit groups come in and work together to provide resources for residents who want to help restore the species. Currently, staff members are collecting milkweed seed throughout the mountains.
Santa Monica Mountains Fund Executive Director Deanna Armbruster noted that monarch butterfly populations are in severe decline in California.
“Data shows what was once a population in the millions has been reduced to thousands,” Armbruster said.
Unlike its native relatives, the easy-to-grow, flowering plant fails to go dormant during the winter. That allows a parasite to thrive and take a toll on the monarch’s migration, flight ability, and lifespan.
With the $175,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, they have been able to embark on this ambitious monarcas project.
“Our local giveaway events educate residents on how they can make a difference by just growing and tending to one plant,” Armbruster said. “Monarch populations decreased in 2018-2020, with hopeful increases in 2021 and 2022. We believe we’re making a difference.”
The nonprofit organization serves as the philanthropic arm of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service. Monarcas is Spanish for Monarchs.
During the past two years, the organization has given around 36,000 milkweed plants to primarily underserved communities. This effort has increased the native milkweed population in the area.
On Saturday, Aug. 26, around 150 participants attended the milkweed giveaway event at their Rancho Sierra Vista Nursery in Thousand Oaks and took home milkweed plants to add to their garden. The event included a nursery tour, monarch face painting, creating seed bombs, and milkweed care.
“Fortunately, the most common and abundant native milkweed in California, narrow-leaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis), is easy to grow from seed and/ or live plants in nearly any garden,” Native Plant Nursery Manager Antonio Sanchez said. “Our goal over the next 12 months is to give out over 50,000 free live narrow-leaf milkweed plants and help restore local ecosystems even in urban areas like Watts. We feel it’s important to empower anyone interested in nature and the environment and help restore Southern California one garden at a time.”
If you live at least one mile from the coast, plant early-season native milkweed (narrow leaf milkweed, California milkweed, or Indian milkweed). Environmentalists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say it is important to plant milkweeds that leaf out early in the season because monarchs are known to leave overwintering sites earlier due to climate change. Try to plant pesticide-free milkweed whenever possible. Avoid planting milkweed closer to the coast near monarch overwintering sites because it can interrupt their natural lifecycle and reduce migration. Milkweed did not historically occur on the coast.
Santa Monica Mountains Fund also employs local youth to facilitate its monarcas program.
“Our work is two-fold,” said Armbruster. “We are profoundly concerned about the local Monarch population, and at the same time to help facilitate increasing the population we recruit young adults from underserved local communities to implement the program.”
Santa Monica Mountains Fund works to protect and encourage appreciation and understanding of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The Fund achieves this by supporting National Park Service efforts in education, science, research, improved facilities, citizen engagement, stewardship, and philanthropy.
Their first volunteer milkweed restoration event will take place on Sept. 30. To learn more and register for free milkweed giveaways, visit www.samofund.org/milkweed.
