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.
