Planning and Planting for the Future of Monarchs in California

Planning and Planting for the Future of Monarchs in California By Emma Pelton on 2 December 2020 Pismo State Beach Takes Steps to Protect and Restore Monarch Overwintering Habitat Each year, monarch butterflies from across western North America make their incredible migration to California to spend the winter in groves of trees along the coast. There are hundreds of such groves, but one of the most important is a nondescript stand of eucalyptus and Monterey cypress trees sandwiched between a campground and houses along Highway 1 and straddling the boundary between the towns of Pismo Beach and Grover Beach on California’s central coast. It’s the kind of place that you might whiz past on the highway without noticing. But this unassuming stand of trees, known simply as the monarch grove at Pismo State Beach, is actually incredibly important, regularly hosting over 10% of the entire western monarch population each winter. Read the rest of this great blog post here. Learn more about overwintering site management – including the new management plan for Pismo – on the website.