Friday, June 13, 2003 Times Press Recorder an Edition of Pulitzer Central Coast Newspapers
Pismo Seeks help to save butterfly habitat
by Bob Bheme
staff writer
Pismo Beach - The city is again banking on monarch butterflies to attract tourists this fall and winter, but officials warn help is needed to preserve the insects habitats. The city thinks the distinctive butterfly that spends its winters in an oceanside grove off Highway 1 may not only be the way to increase tourism but also may be just the ticket to hook the newest breed of traveler-ecotourists, who prefer to weekend in places that put them close to nature. Last November, the city initiated " Butterflies By The Beach " with the help of then Mayor Rudy Natoli. The affair began modestly with a children's parade and ceremonies at the pier. This year, organizers say the event will be larger and better choreographed, and if the promotion continues into future years, it could mark something that may eventually be as big as the Clam Festival. But there is a caveat: Monarchs are a renewable resource, and Pismo's monarch habitat needs attention. Like other butterfly groves along the coast, the Pismo site is deteriorating with age. Some trees are dead or dying. Others have become so tall they block essential sunlight. Kingston Leong, a Cal Poly professor who has become one of two ranking monarch experts, says if conditions remain un-checked, the site will become uninhabitable. Flights of monarchs will either die off, or the insects will seek another site. Last December, the number of migrating monarchs was down-barely 20,000 of the butterflies were counted. Is the butterfly habitat worth saving? It is, according to Natoli, who believes the creatures are so unique that tourists will drive hundreds of miles just to walk among them. " I'am proud to say that ( Pismo Beach ) is one of the few cities chosen by this rare and dwindling species as a winter site, and I've made the preservation of this unique species a priority, " Natoli said in a recent letter to Assistant Secretary of the Interior Craig Manson. Leong agreed: " this is the second year with diminishing numbers of monarchs. If numbers are down next year, it will be a red flag. We are losing habitat sites and we need to act". What makes the creatures unique ? Beginning in late October, they fly in to winter at several sites along California's central and southern coast, including Pismo. In February and March, they migrate to places as far north as Canada. In the fall when the milkweed plants the caterpillars use as food and a site for their eggs die back, monarchs retrace the long, hard journey to the exact groves their ancestors started from. One factor that makes the butterflies unusual is, unlike birds that do it all in one generation, monarch migrations involve as many as five generations. Scientists are not yet sure how the migratory information is passed from one generation to the next, nor do they know for sure how the creatures navigate. Those are the sort of mysteries that draw scientists and tourists to Pismo Beach. " It is a miracle " a migratory phenomenon that cannot be re-created," said Sheila Boone, president of the Nipomo based Butterfly Palace, a project to create a special habitat for the insects. Another factor is there are two varieties of monarch- one in the East another in the West, their populations separated by the impenetrable Rocky Mountains . Genetically, the two groups are close, although not identical. The Eastern monarchs winter in Mexican forests, and their habitat also is diminishing. Scientists predict that in time the species could die out. That would leave only the western population, making it even more important. According to Leong, the Pismo grove can be restored and maintained to guarantee that monarchs will return year after year. He would like to begin with a study to determine what kind of help the grove needs. With that completed, Leong believes he and his students could prepare maintenance procedures that would keep the grove alive and vital. In June, Natoli sent a letter to Manson asking how the city could apply for federal funding for a program to save the eucalyptus grove where the butterflies winter. " The money would be used to pay for educational programs that would benefit the butterflies, scientists, adults and children stabilizing the groves and increasing monarch populations, " Natoli said. He has not received an answer. Natoli plans to invite Lincoln Brower, the world's leading monarch expert, to come to Pismo Beach this fall, where he and Leong can give the grove the attention it needs to survive. Not long ago, Wendy McCaw, publisher of the Santa Barbara News Press donated $ 1 million to pay for the protection and maintenance of the Ellwood Monarch Habitat near Santa Barbara. " There is help out there . We just have to find it, " Natoli said. Last year the Pismo Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau created a Web site- www.MonarchButterfly.org - where more information is available.
** Following the publication of this article an additional 5 million dollar donation was made to save the Ellwood Monarch habitat.
** This article was also published in the Santa Maria Times
© S. Boone Productions, photographer Siamak Sehat
Page By Chris Fredrickson
updated 06/19/03