Monarchs in the Rough Program Goes Local

THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY IS A WONDER OF THE WORLD

The monarch butterfly is a North American icon, but the butterfly’s population has declined by more than 90 percent over the last two decades. To combat this decline and the decline of other key pollinators, Audubon International and Environmental Defense Fund have teamed up to create Monarchs in the Rough, a program that partners with golf courses to restore pollinator habitat in out-of-play areas. We are working to create essential habitat for butterflies and increase awareness of the golf sector’s contribution to the monarch conservation challenge. Join our efforts to support the monarch butterfly and help the golf community be a part of the pollinator solution.

Monarchs in the Rough is a partnership between Audubon International and Environmental Defense Fund. The program connects and supports superintendents and other golf course staff as they plan, install, and manage habitat projects for the monarch butterfly on their courses. Monarchs in the Rough provides regionally-appropriate milkweed seed to golf courses – enough to establish about one acre of high-quality monarch habitat when planted with a native pollinator seed mix.

Monarchs in the Rough also offers signage, posters, and technical guidance to golf course managers as they install and manage habitat, and as they communicate with course members about their effort to save the monarch.

By joining Monarchs in the Rough, golf courses can do their part to prevent further monarch losses while gaining recognition as an environmental leader and connecting with their communities in new ways.

There are hundreds of courses gearing up for it nationwide, but just twelve Minnesota courses have joined in. We need more involved! Here’s a list of the Minnesota courses joining this great cause to date.

Somerby Golf Club                          Wildflower Golf Course

Green Lea Golf Course                   The Wilderness at Fortune Bay

Enger Park Golf Course                  Minnesota Valley Country Club

Legends Club                                    The Ponds at Battle Creek

Keller Golf Course                           Meadowbrook Golf Course

Braemar Golf Course                      New Richmond Golf Club