Rural Routes/Margot Ford McMillen

Plant Milkweed and Trees for Life

Everything always happens at the same time, we all know that, so it wasn’t surprising that on the same day the first frigid polar vortex hit my county (that was when Hell, Michigan, froze over) I got e-mail articles about the precipitous decline of monarch butterflies, both east and west. The e-mail focused on the western monarch population, which is in serious trouble. That group—along California’s coast—has declined 86% in a year, down now to 0.5% of their historical average. The eastern population, on the other hand, after years of decline saw an increase in 2018!

As author of an early Missouri Conservationist article on a group called Monarchwatch, back in 1997, I take the numbers personally. I remember being at a Lee’s Summit school near Kansas City where waves and waves of monarchs floated — and that’s the only verb you can use with monarchs, except maybe drifted, they don’t really fly with any kind of confidence — overhead. The kids wandered out in the field behind school, chased and netted a few, tagged them with little numbers, and sent them off in the hopes that somebody farther south on the monarch journey would find them and record where they landed. And, sometimes, it worked and the kids got an e-mail and the butterfly got a spot on a map!

That day in 1997, I drove home and lay on my back in my backyard, about 100 miles east of the school, and watched more monarchs floating from north to south. With a camera, you could get two or three in a frame just about any click you made.

No more.

The eastern population migrates through the Midwest. It takes several generations to get from Canada to their resting grounds in Mexico where they rest through November, December, January and February, then they head north. And, several generations later, the great great great granddaughters end up in Canada and turn around. One of the butterflies tagged by the Lee’s Summit school was found in Austin, Texas. The little drifter (PX011) had made 635 miles, having traveled 15.1 miles per day. And, even now, with 20 years more data, scientists don’t know how she knew the route.

In the mid-1990s, monarchs resting in Mexico covered nearly 52 acres. In 2014, that was down to just over 2 acres. But in 2018, the number of monarchs arriving in Mexico increased to the largest number since 2007! They took up about 15 acres, which scientists say means that with luck they’ll survive and keep on increasing!

What made the difference? Good weather and human help.

Humans have planted milkweed and other natives, providing habitat and food sources. Last summer, I found 10 caterpillars on the milkweed in our pasture and raised them, watched them hatch, released them. Bringing them inside is supposed to increase their chances of survival. Some of my friends found more than that, and saved even more! Stashes of milkweed have become like secret places to find mushrooms … shhh…

Now, back to the e-mails on that frigid polar vortex day. In the same batch there was an article about pollution of groundwater due to Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. And another about the corruption of US academia due to corporate interference.

And, then, another e-mail about a young friend who’s expecting not one but two baby boys. Twins! Coming onto this already-overcrowded planet.

So it was with a heavy heart that I went off to the shopping mall, thinking I’d prepare for the inevitable by looking at baby stuff and figuring out how to honor the occasion. Because, despite the bad news, babies are honorable and have nothing to do with the mess they come into.

There were cute outfits with elephants on them, tigers, hippos and other African creatures. Nah, I decided, not going to start the kids off with endangered species on their chests. Then there were baseball-themed baby shoes and football-themed mobiles for the crib, tennis-themed porridge bowls and golf-themed bibs. Welcome to the world of killing time, little ones.

The mall was warm, so I stayed a long time, but there was nothing there. And, anyway, these kiddos will get plenty of colorful plastic stuff in their lives and have plenty of chances to rack up the carbon footprint miles!

So then it hit me … there’s only one way to honor new life on this planet. And that is to do what you can to make it safer. That means, plant trees in honor of the little ones, or find a non-profit that will do it for you. Re-forest the Camp Fire lands. Re-forest the national parks. Re-forest your town and hope those trees grow and thrive and capture all the CO2 they can in their cores.

It may not work, but it’s all we got.

Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. Her latest book is The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History. Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, March 1, 2019

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