In August 2015, the first Operation Pollination project was launched in the St. Croix Valley of Minnesota/Wisconsin when three federal land management agencies signed a simple Pollinator Resolution and invited local partners to commit to pollinators by signing a simple Pollinator Pledge form. These three federal agencies were the National Park Service, US Forest Service, and US Fish and Wildlife Service. The local partners they invited to participate in the project included other government agencies, NGOs, for-profits, not for profits, both large and small. When these federal agencies launched the Operation Pollination project in 2015, 70 local partners, including Rotary District 5960, had signed pledges to take positive pollinator habitat/education actions. Today, there are approximately 120 local partner names that support the St. Croix Valley’s Operation Pollination project.
In 2018, three National Heritage Areas in the Midwest adopted and copied the Operation Pollination model for their respective areas. These areas are: Northern Plains National Heritage Area (ND), Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area (IL), and MotorCities National Heritage Area (MI). National Heritage Areas are large, lived-in landscapes with nationally important stories to tell. Most land within the boundaries of National Heritage Areas is privately owned. There is no federal ownership of land associated with this federal designation. Perhaps there is a National Heritage Area where you live?
To start, each of these three National Heritage Areas announced their involvement in the Operation Pollination project by issuing a Pollinator Resolution (see sample here). Next, each area recruited local partners to engage in pollinator habitat restoration or education activities by signing a Pollinator Pledge form (see sample here). That first year, more than 60 local partners signed on to these National Heritage Area Operation Pollination projects, including: Ford Motor Company, Marathon Oil, DTE Electric, Bs in the D, the IL governor’s office, IL communities, Basin Electric, a brewery, a bank, an architectural firm, state parks of ND, and many more. Each of these local partners has done something positive to improve pollinator habitat or education within their National Heritage Area.
If your Rotary district or club is located within the boundaries of a National Heritage Area (see map above), please consider becoming a pollinator partner by joining your National Heritage Area’s Operation Pollination project. Simply sign a Pollinator Pledge form stating what your organization will do to improve pollinator habitat or education, and you immediately become an Operation Pollination partner. There is no cost in becoming a partner, aside from your district’s or club’s investment in pollinator habitat restoration or education. If your district or club is not located in a National Heritage Area, please consider issuing your own Pollinator Resolution as an Operation Pollination project leader. Leaders then recruit local partners to join the effort.
After your district or club becomes an Operation Pollination project leader or partner, it is highly likely that your local media outlets will want to promote your great efforts. Issue news releases. Ask television and radio stations for interviews. Promote your great work on social media platforms. Every positive pollinator activity that you or a partner organization achieves, large or small, is important to improving pollinators across the land.
Recent Comments