HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 06-17 Stillwater student's effort to protect pollinators take flight STAR TRIBUNE Stillwater student�s effort to protect
pollinators takes flight
Recent high school grad has planted butterfly-and bee-friendly
gardens.
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�lwater student's effort�to profect pollinators takes flight - StarTribu
Andrea Rustad began to worry when she noticed fewer and fewer orange and black
butterflies fluttering around her yard in Stillwater.
So last year,she decided to do something about it.
Rustad,18,who graduated this month from Stillwater Area High School,started a Girl
Scout project to create and promote habitat for monarch butterflies and other
pollinators.Since starting the work,she has helped plant about a dozen pesticid�free
gardens in Washington County and created educational curriculum for local schools so
that"ldds will learn about the roles of monarchs,"she said.
Rustad's project,titled"Feed and Flutter:Promoting Monazch Habitats,"was
considered so outstanding that she recently won the Girl Scouts'Gold Awazd,a top
honor bestowed on only about 5 percent of eligible girls in scouting.
Rustad is one of several Washington County students involved in combating the decline
of pollinator populations threatened by habitat loss and the use of pesticides,
specifically neonicotinoids—a type of insecticide linked to the demise of bees and
monarch butterflies.
"I lmow this is ldnd of cliche,but as young people we are in chaxge of the future,and
monarchs and other pollinators play a huge role in our daily lives,"she said."Some
people don't realize how important they are."
Laurie Schneider,co-president of the Pollinator Friendly Alliance,a group of local
beekeepers and concerned citizens,does.
Schneider said she recruited Rustad last fall to join the alliance,which introduced a
resolution before the Stillwater City Council in September—Rustad wore sparkly
butterfly wings at the meeting—calling for the city to stop using harmful pesticides and
begin planting pollinator-friendly gardens in some of its parks.
City off'icials passed the measure in April,and Stillwater joined several other metro
cities—including Shorewood,St.Louis Park,Lake Elmo and Andover—that have
pledged to become pollinator-friendly.
Schneider said the alliance won a$5,000 gant earlier this spring that has allowed it to
begin planting gardens to attract bees and butterflies.The organization has already
planted gardens in Northland,Ramsey Grove and Triangle parks in Stillwater,and plans
to plant other pollinator forage areas in and around the city.
Rustad was at Ramsey Grove Park hours before her high school graduation,planting
milkweed and native plants.She said she plans to continue planting the gazdens with
other members of the alliance until she leaves home in the fall to attend Boston
University.
Over the past year,four Washington County high school students have studied how bees
survive the state's frigid winter weather.
The students,in grades 8-11,are participating in an educational program called the 4-H
Science of Agriculture Challenge,sponsored by the University of Minnesota.
The program challenges teens to identify an agricultural issue in Minnesota and find a
science-based solution to that problem,said Kristin Weeldreyer,who oversees their
work.The students began researching factors that contribute to successful
"ovenvinterization"of bees in Minnesota.With the help of Dustin Vanasse,a
professional beekeeper and owner of a Maplewood-based company that produces
honey,the group began collecting data.
The project goal is to collect data on beekeeping pradices,organize and analyze it,and
make it available for the public.The teens are scheduled to present their findings at the
university Thursday and Friday.
Blair Emerson is a'I�vin Cities freelance writer.