Volunteers help turn PWC rest area along I-95 into habitat for Monarch butterflies

Monarch butterflies whose survival is under constant threat due to dwindling habitats and food supplies have some new friends in Virginia who are eagerly volunteering to shore up the butterflies’ habitats and food supplies, according to a news release from Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).

Volunteers from VDOT and Dominion Virginia Power teamed up with representatives of the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy, Native Plant Society and Valley Land Sept. 29 to plant more than 8,000 pollinator-friendly plants at the Dale City Rest Area on Interstate 95 north in Prince William County.

The project in Prince William County is part of a larger VDOT Pollinator Habitat Program, which aims to create “waystations” or refuges for Monarch butterflies and other threatened pollinators.

Three other new pollinator habitats have been seeded with native plants this month in southwestern Virginia.  And a site in Scott County will be seeded in the spring, through a partnership with the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

VDOT Commissioner Charlie Kilpatrick was quoted in a news release as saying,“We have been working with experts to enhance our understanding and knowledge of pollinator needs and habitats over the past year. We’re incorporating what we’ve learned into projects that will protect these crucial habitats for butterflies and other pollinators.”

Pollinators such as butterflies and bees are necessary for growing crops, but their population has been steadily declining. Waystations filled with pollinator-friendly plants like milkweed provide those species the environment needed for survival.

The Dale City project features a 15,000 square-foot meadow restoration, along with two smaller plantings near the rest area building which will serve as educational stations with interpretive signage for visitors. It is expected the habitat will become naturalized over the next few years.

VDOT provided project management, site preparation, and volunteers for the Dale City project. Dominion Virginia Power provided volunteers, and Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy provided additional technical expertise.  Valley Land provided mulch for the project area.

Carolyn Moss, Dominion senior policy advisor for federal, state and local affairs, was quoted as saying, “We owe it to our children and their great grandchildren to leave our planet in the wonderful condition in which we inherited it. That means we all must do everything we can to insure that the Monarch Butterfly, in all its splendor, will be around forevermore,” said Moss.

“With its thousands of miles of medians and roadsides, VDOT is uniquely positioned to be a leader in monarch and pollinator recovery,” said Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy President Nicole Hamilton. “This project is a wonderful example of the plants and habitat that is needed to bring back the Monarchs, bees and other pollinators.”