I have actually come across the idea for this project on The Native Plant Society of Texas' website. With statements like, "The Monarch butterfly population has declined to the lowest point in over twenty years according to research scientists." I can't help but feel that this would be a great project to spend my time on.
I feel like the best thing that I can do as of now is to create a sort of way station with the native species that the Monarchs are losing access to, as described in this quote from Lincoln Bower, a biologist of Sweet Briar College, "and the growth of herbicide-based agriculture destroying crucial milkweed flora in the Midwest."
With that being said, my initial goals will be directed toward the following: determining the appropriate species of plants needed by the monarchs, collecting them, and planting them. Along the way I will definitely learn more about the Monarchs, and their associated plants. By next week I want to have solidified goals ready and begin working towards achieving them before April, which is when the first Monarch sitings were recorded in Spring 2013.
