Sandusky, Ohio recently became the first Monarch City in the state, a designation that recognizes the city's efforts to increase its population of these endangered butterflies. Sandusky officials and other stakeholders played a major role in this designation, including public services director Brad Link, commissioner Dave Waddington, ex officio mayor Dennis Murray Jr., and Ontario Elementary School teacher Jacquelyn Betzel-Conrad.
A native Floridian, Jim West was raised in a family of business owners. He later cultivated his love for gardening as he worked as a teacher in special needs schools. He subsequently planted 20 gardens on school campuses and designed a 1,200-plant butterfly garden in the Bill Dreggors Park. These gardens are the lifeblood of the Monarch butterfly population and their migration.
This year, researchers at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve announced the highest population since 2006. This is a dramatic increase, but the news was mixed for the butterflies' 2020 migration. Monarchs were hit with poor weather conditions during their migration this winter, making their numbers dwindling. By the end of the decade, they had plummeted to their lowest levels in decades. At their wintering sanctuaries in Mexico, the population dropped to a record low of 1.65 acres.