MONTANA PARTNERS OBSERVE NATIONAL POLLINATOR WEEK

June 23, 2009

For More Information:
Larry Cooper, 406-587-6842

Bozeman--This week (June 22 – June 27) is National Pollinator Week. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Montana is working to support efforts to preserve pollinator habitat with technical and financial support programs to protect native pollinator pathways and habitat.

Farm and ranch lands that support pollinators are disappearing at the alarming rate of 3,000 acres a day. The remaining farm and ranch lands lose the pollinators’ valuable services as their surrounding habitat declines.

NRCS conservation programs can help farmers and ranchers:
• Increase the number of pollinators on agricultural lands
    o Support other wildlife such as birds and game animals
    o Improve the quality of water runoff
    o Decrease soil loss
    o Reduce the use of expensive pesticides
• Reduce the direct exposure of pollinators to pesticides and protect critical nesting sites and food sources for beneficial insects and pollinators.
• Restore pollinator friendly practices at the farm.
• Renew forage and nesting habitats by adding flowering plants, hedge rows, butterfly and other shrubs.
NRCS programs can also help farmers implement reduced tillage practices (many native bees live in the soil) and develop streamside zones for wildlife habitats and corridors.

In observance of National Pollinator week, NRCS Montana, the Pollinator Partnership and the Gallatin Valley Land Trust are developing a native pollinator garden and informational kiosk located on the Gallatin River Walkway at Bozeman. Ground was broken for the project today.

NRCS and the Farm Service Agency in Montana have created an activity book “Bee Pollen Popular” that was distributed to schools throughout the state by Agriculture in Montana Schools. The activity book and other pollinator information can be accessed and downloaded from the Montana NRCS Web site www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov. 

The Pollinator Partnership and the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign and its partners, NRCS, the USDA Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, have created Pollinator Friendly Planting Guides for the continental US. Available FREE for download at www.pollinator.org, these 24 page booklets give the specifics to get started planting for pollinators on the farm, park or home!

For NRCS Pollinator Conservation Program information visit the Web site or your local NRCS-FSA Field Office.

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