Let’s make 320-mile course of the Rock River a Monarch butterfly corridor

For the fifth year in a row, the Rock River Trail Initiative (RRTI) will distribute 10,000 trees in the 11 counties of the Rock River, April 22, April 23 and April 24. Chad Pregracke, president of Living Lands and Waters’ One Million Trees program, has donated these 50,000 trees to the Rock River Trail Initiative and our river.

For the second year, the RRTI will also distribute information about regional sources for milkweed seeds for the propagation of the endangered Monarch butterfly, with the goal of making the 320-mile course of the Rock River a Monarch butterfly corridor. While oak trees have been the RRTI calling card for the last five years, the Rock River Trail Initiative’s main goal was to found a National Water Trail along the 320 miles of the Rock River, from its source above the Horicon Marsh in Wisconsin to its mouth at the Quad Cities in Illinois. This was achieved March 11, 2013, when Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior Ken Salazar and U.S. National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvins made the designation including the Rock River Trail in the National Water Trail System. Out of 19 national water trails, the Rock River Trail was the 10th trail in the nation to achieve such a distinction.

SOURCES FOR MILKWEED SEEDS, PLANTS AND RESTORATION

Genesis Nursery, 23200 Hurd Road, Tampico, IL 61283, telephone (815) 438-2220 offers seeds.
Their website is www.genesisnurseryinc.com

Wild Ones, Rock River Valley Chapter, offers both Marsh (Red) milkweed and Butterfly weed. Deadline for ordering will be April 28; call (815) 871-7424 or go to prairie@wildonesrrvc.org or the website WildOnesRRVC.org.

Prairie Nursery, Inc., of Westfield, Wis., offers milkweed and Butterfly weed; call (800) 476-9453, (608) 296-3679, or www.prairienursery.com.

Agrecol Corp.,1803 S. State Rd. 140, Janesville, Wis. , offers seed, plants and restoration. Order online at www.agrecol.com; click on “Native Plants.” Or call the company at (608) 754-6594.

Prairie Moon Nursery, 32115 Prairie Lane, Winona, Minn., offers seeds; call (866) 417-8156 or (507) 452-1362, or go to info@prairiemoon.com or www.prairiemoon.com.

Monarch Waystation Program offers a seed kit developed by Monarch Watch. A limited number of seed kits can be ordered for $16 each and include nine varieties of nectar and monarch host plants as well as a detailed “Creating a Monarch Waystation” guide. The Monarch Watch website

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Rock River Trail