DuPage Monarch Project recognizes five Conservation Champions

Bumble bees and butterflies are in trouble. They’re declining in part because there are fewer places where they can find food and shelter. There is widespread concern about what this will mean for the health of local ecosystems and crops like tomatoes that rely on native bees for pollination. The members of the DuPage Monarch Project are stepping up to protect the pollinators we all depend on.

This year, the DuPage Monarch Project recognized five pollinator conservation champions for their outstanding contributions to making DuPage County a safe haven for bees and butterflies.

Sugar Creek Golf Course Goes Green

Elmhurst Park District and the village of Villa Park are the co-owners and managers of the Sugar Creek Golf Course. They also share a vision for how the course can offer an enjoyable round of golf and provide valuable ecological services for their communities. The Sugar Creek Golf Course Restoration Project made that vision a reality.

This project was years in the making. It relied on the support and participation of the Elmhurst Park District, village of Villa Park, Sugar Creek Golf Course, DuPage County and the Illinois EPA.

DuPage County Stormwater Management played a pivotal role in getting the project off the ground when it recognized that restoring the section of Sugar Creek that meanders through the course would provide natural flood control and improve the water quality of both Sugar and Salt creeks.

Along with dam removal and shoreline stabilization, the final plan included removing invasive species and adding new naturalized areas. Pollinator habitat was established with 18,000 plugs, 46 native trees, 139 native shrubs and by seeding 2.5 acres with native species.

There is growing pressure to find land that can be naturalized for pollinators. The Sugar Creek Golf Course Restoration Project has demonstrated that the managed greens of a golf course can coexist with healthy, biodiverse natural areas.

Elmhurst Park District, Village of Villa Park and Sugar Creek Golf Course received the Jane Foulser Habitat Award for the Sugar Creek Golf Course Restoration Project.

Science, Education and Fun on the Russell Kirt Prairie

Illinois was once covered with prairies filled with tall grasses and colorful flowers. The grand expanses of prairie are now gone. It is the small remnants of the original prairies and recent restorations that many birds, bees and butterflies rely on for their food and shelter. These are also the places where people can enjoy and connect with nature.

Anna Bakker is making the Russell Kirt Prairie at the College of DuPage an inviting place for young and old to experience the native Illinois landscape.

In the 18 months since Bakker was hired to manage the College of DuPage’s natural areas, she has instituted a wide range of educational, volunteer, scientific and community science opportunities for COD students, staff and the general public. There are classes to take and events to attend.

Visitors can become community scientists by adding their observations of monarchs to the annual butterfly count. Volunteers have hands-on encounters with native plant communities while planting and collecting seeds. There’s even a tea party on the prairie. Guests enjoy a cup of tea while listening to stories of how Indigenous people and pioneers used prairie plants for food and medicine.

Bakker makes it easy to stay up to date about what’s happening at COD’s natural areas with a monthly newsletter and frequent social media posts.

Anna Bakker received the Pat Miller Community Engagement Award for offering diverse, creative and educational outreach about native plants, monarch butterflies and pollinators.

Passion fueled activism adds habitat for pollinators

Mary Onorad isn’t shy about making the most of every chance to help pollinators. In the four short years since learning about the dramatic decline of monarch butterflies, she has gone from planting milkweed in her backyard to launching several pollinator friendly gardens.

Onorad had a long history of volunteering with the Woodridge Rotary Club when she learned about Rotary International’s partnership with Operation Pollination.

Operation Pollination is a collaborative framework for increasing, enhancing and maintaining pollinator habitat. It was a good fit with her organizing and networking skills. She just needed the right opportunity to get started.

A project turned up when Onorad heard about a newly seeded bioswale at the 83rd St. Park in Woodridge that could use a helping hand. Progress on the bioswale had stalled when park district staff were redirected to cleaning up the damage from a tornado that swept through Woodridge in June 2021.

The bioswale needed two things, more plants and additional species. Adding plants would crowd out weeds, increase biodiversity, and improve appeal. Ms. Onorad collaborated with Bruce Blake, a habitat specialist with the DuPage Monarch Project, on developing a plant list and overseeing their installation. She applied for and received a grant which covered the cost of the plants and an interpretative sign.

Onorad barely paused after completing the bioswale before turning her attention to the monarch butterfly’s winter habitat in Mexico. Rotary International was one of the many sponsors of the 60,000 Tree Challenge, an educational and fundraising effort for purchasing trees for the monarch sanctuary in El Rosario, Mexico.

As part of the Challenge, a boxcar emblazoned with a monarch butterfly was traveling from Canada to Mexico with a stop scheduled in Bensenville. She took it upon herself to notify local Rotarians about the Challenge and the event hosted by the Elmhurst Park District at the Bensenville rail yard where there were presentations about monarch butterflies and Operation Pollination’s approach to habitat restoration.

The following year Onorad became the chair of Rotary District 6450’s Environmental Service Projects. She found herself in a position to spread the word about the funding that was available for pollinator gardens. She convened a meeting of interested garden clubs, libraries and Master Gardeners to explain the grant criteria and application process.

Six pollinator friendly projects received funding in 2024 with four located in DuPage County. Volunteers from the Naperville Sunrise Rotary Club, Naperville Downtown Rotary Club and Cress Creek Garden Club planted a pollinator garden designed by Diane Stein at The Children’s Museum.

Members of the Hinsdale Rotary Club and Master Gardener Carol Burck planted a garden at Graue Mill in Oak Brook and Chris Bosacki, a member of the Darien Garden Club, enlarged and enhanced an existing monarch garden at St. John Lutheran Church in Darien. Westmont Public Library planted a straw bale vegetable garden which showcases the role bees and butterflies play in turning flowers into vegetables.

Mary Onorad received the Pollinator Protector of the Year Award for her passionate commitment to pollinator conservation. It took root in her backyard, extended into her community, spread to communities around the county and reached as far as Mexico.