Peoria Call to Action: Save the Monarchs

Bonnie Cox is an enormously busy retiree, but when the Peoria Garden Club asked her to organize a committee to save monarch butterflies, Cox recognized the urgency and agreed to take on the task.

“Garden Clubs of America has asked every local club to initiate this program to save the monarchs,” Cox said. “We need volunteers! We need public involvement!”

Monarch populations are down more than 90 percent over the past decade. Causes are lack of habitat, use of pesticides and climate change.

Cox said the Illinois Department of Transportation has agreed not to mow some roadways.

The Peoria Park District and many homeowners are reducing and eliminating cosmetic use of lawn chemicals.

Cox and her committee would like to see lawns and gardens in Peoria go chemical free and include milkweed plants, the host plant for the monarch larvae.

Cox holds monthly meetings and the public is invited. Her next meeting is 10:30 a.m. to noon May 26 at Forest Park Nature Center.