Monarch Butterfly - MultiAgency Collaborative Working Group

• Xerces Society Resources:
  • Managing Monarchs in the West
  • Regional Milkweed Guides
  • Milkweeds: A Conservation Practitioner’s Guide
  • Priority Action Zones in California for Recovering Western Monarchs
• California Native Plant Society: California Native Seed Strategy
• NRCS working lands for monarch butterflies

• Xerces Society Western Monarch Overwintering Resource Center
• Overwintering Site Map
• Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove
• Goleta: Ellwood Mesa
• Pacific Grove Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary
• Overwintering Managers Working Group (see working groups tab)

Monarch-focused Community Science

• Western Monarch Genomics Project
• Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper
• Integrated Monarch Monitoring Project
• Western Monarch Count
• Southwest Monarch Tagging Project

Community Science for Other Pollinators

• California bumble bee Atlas
• North American Butterfly Association

• Monarch Joint Venture Educational Resources
• Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History
• Pollinator Posse
• WAFWA Monarch Fact Sheets

Partners participate in several topical or regional working groups aimed at advancing monarch and pollinator conservation:

• Plant materials- Anyone working to increase the availability of plant materials that benefit monarchs and other pollinators such as native milkweeds, nectar plants, or other host plants is welcome to join the quarterly virtual meetings. Contact Jessa.Kay.Cruz@xerces.org for more information.
• Rangeland- Ranchers or others working on rangelands to advance monarch conservation can join. Contact DeeDee.Soto@xerces.org for more information.
• Overwintering managers- Anyone who manages or works on monarch overwintering sites is welcome to join these quarterly virtual meetings. Contact Emma.Pelton@xerces.org for more information.
• Monarch Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) Rights of Way Working Group - This group was designed for those interested in or already participating in the CCAA.
• WAFWA Monarch and Native Insect Pollinator Working Group- Membership is only available state fish and wildlife agency staff.
• California Pollinator Coalition- Members include researchers, non-profits, and farm groups.
• Regional working groups:
  • Marin Monarch Working Group
  • Monterey - To participate contact the RCD of Monterey County.
  • East Bay Monarch Work Group
  • Ventura Monarch and Pollinator Regional Advisory Committee
  • San Diego Pollinator Alliance

Although pesticides like herbicides and insecticides target pest insects, they can negatively also impact pollinators including monarchs. These resources can help reduce the pesticide exposure in pollinator habitat:

• PRESCRIBE database - CDPR’s tool for pesticide applicators to look up California Endangered Species Act-listed species that occur where applications are planned and recommended mitigations to reduce exposure to these species.
• EPA ECOTOX database - Provides toxicity data for single chemical stressors to aquatic and terrestrial species.
• Bee Precaution UC IPM database - Look up toxicity classification of various pesticides to pollinators.
• SF Environmental Reduced Risk Pesticide List - List of pesticides approved for use in San Francisco, including pesticide risk classifications and use limitations.
• BeeWhere - Beekeepers, pesticide advisors, and pesticide applicators can look up where hives are being kept as well as where sprays are planned.
• CA Animal Health and Food Lab at UCD - Carcasses of vertebrates that died to suspected pesticide poisoning can be tested at this lab.
• CDFW Wildlife Incident Reporting Database - Deaths of any wildlife due to suspected pesticide poisoning (or other causes) can be reported here.
• WCB Herbicide Questionnaire (PDF) - Set of questions to help rationale methods for invasive plant control.
• Pesticide Use Reporting (PUR) - Statewide pesticide use reporting provides information such as location (county), date, and amount of pesticide applications in California. This reporting is required for nearly all types of agricultural pesticide use and certain nonagricultural pesticide uses.

• California Wildlife Conservation Board Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Rescue Program
• California Department of Food and Agriculture Pollinator Habitat Program
• National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
• National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Monarch Butterfly and Pollinators Conservation Fund

Minutes and other documents from the Collaborative's Management Oversight Group (MOG)

April 2024 Meeting Notes (PDF)