The National Wildlife Federation

Community Profile

Pledge Status

Active

Pledge Date

Friday, January 6, 2023

Program Year

2023

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Action Item Report

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City of Harker Heights

Harker Heights, TX

Spencer Smith

Mayor

Pledge Summary

The City of Harker Heights is in Central Texas with a population roughly of 34,000. The city is close to the Interstate 35 corridor that follows the Monarch’s migration each year. Being in the path of the Monarch Migration, Mayor Spencer H. Smith of Harker Heights has invested in creating a pocket prairie, native pollinator gardens, and providing education that engages the community to help protect the Monarch Butterfly.

Community Spotlight

Action Items Committed for 2023

Communications and Convening

  • Issue a Proclamation to raise awareness about the decline of the monarch butterfly and the species’ need for habitat.
  • Create a community art project to enhance and promote monarch and pollinator conservation as well as cultural awareness and recognition.
  • Engage with gardening leaders and partners (e.g., Master Naturalists, Master Gardeners, Nature Centers, Native Plant Society Chapters , other long-standing and influential community leaders) to support monarch butterfly conservation.
  • Engage with city parks and recreation, public works, sustainability, and other relevant staff to identify opportunities to revise and maintain mowing programs and milkweed / native nectar plant planting programs.
  • Engage with community garden groups and urge them to plant native milkweeds and nectar-producing plants.
  • Launch or maintain a public communication effort to encourage residents to plant monarch gardens at their homes or in their neighborhoods. (If you have community members who speak a language other than English, we encourage you to also communicate in that language; Champion Pledges must communicate in that language.)

Program and Demonstration Gardens

  • Display educational signage at monarch gardens and pollinator habitat.
  • Add or maintain native milkweed and nectar producing plants in community gardens.
  • Plant milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants in medians and public rights-of-way.
  • Plant or maintain a monarch and pollinator-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or another prominent or culturally significant community location.
  • Host or support a native seed or plant sale, giveaway or swap.

Systems Change

  • Integrate monarch butterfly conservation into the city’s Park Master Plan, Sustainability Plan, Climate Resiliency Plan or other city plans.