Advocacy
We stand for pollinators from the tiniest sweat bee to the grandest swallowtail butterfly
Highways for Habitat Roadside Program
A statewide program to significantly increase critical roadside habitat for pollinators, birds and wildlife on roadsides. Native wildflowers will beautify and add to visual appeal. And there are many other important benefits to this program. Read more about this program here.
Bill HF498/SF718 passed Minnesota legislature in 2023. The MNDOT commissioner must establish a highways for habitat program to enhance roadsides with pollinator and other wildlife habitat and vegetative buffers. State roadside managers are mandated to use integrated vegetation management practices and plant habitat for birds, pollinators and wildlife, for erosion control and pollution buffers. In 2025, we will advocate to expand this program for county roadsides.
Read more here
Prohibit Neonicotinoids and Neonic-Treated Seed
Environmentalists have been pushing for stronger regulations on toxic neonicotinoid pesticides and treated seed for years. Neonic treated seed constitutes one of the primary uses of pesticides in Minnesota including corn and soy, yet treated seed is not regulated in Minnesota. There’s a loophole in the EPA pesticide law which exempts pesticide-coated seed from proper regulation, AND Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture will not step up to protect environmental and human health from pesticide pollution. Read more here
Neonics are the leading cause of pollinator declines. Less than 4 billionths of a gram of neonic can kill a bee.
They decimate aquatic ecosystems, they are highly toxic to aquatic invertebrates and caused the collapse of a fishery.
Neonics contribute to bird declines. One insecticide-coated seed can kill an entire bird clutch.
Neonic contamination is in animal organs such as deer, grassland birds and otters, making them sick and unable to carry young. 95% of white tailed deer statewide were found contaminated.
Neonics are a pesticide of concern and found in 97% of Minnesota waters sampled, and 74% of groundwater samples.
Neonics are a neurotoxin, over 95% of pregnant women tested positive for neonics.
Neonics are linked with a wide variety of developmental, neurological and reproductive harms.
Piles of neonicotinoid coated corn seed left after planting
Two bills were introduced in 2024: These bills will better regulate neonicotinoid insecticides in Minnesota. Neonic-coated seed is under-regulated and neonic sprays are killing our bees and pollinators. Find out more about these bills: HF2472 / SF1718, and HF2805 / SF1915.
What you can do: Let the Minnesota House and Senate Agriculture Committees know that you care about pollinators, the environment and human health, and want bills (HF2472 / SF1718, and HF2805 / SF1915) to pass.
Prohibit Pesticides on Public DNR-Managed Lands
Prohibiting systemic pesticides on DNR-managed public lands (5.6 million acres) including state parks, scientific & natural areas, wildlife management areas and aquatic management areas should not be a question since these public owned wildlife areas are intended to be a refuge for wildlife. Neonicotinoid pesticides and pesticide-coated seed have lethal and sublethal effects on pollinators and wildlife. Protecting biological diversity and integrity and conserving the system’s wildlife are the central tenets of a refuge system’s mission. It seems however, the DNR has lost track of its primary mission since leasing out lands to individuals for personal gain that grow GMO pesticide treated corn and soy on public lands. Watch the short video to learn more.
Bill HF921 / SF 835 passed Minnesota legislature in 2023 which prohibits neonic and chlorpyrifo use: 195.8 Sec. 17. [84.9735] INSECTICIDES ON STATE LANDS. Why to Support Bill HF921
A person may not use a pesticide containing an insecticide in a wildlife management area, state park, state forest, aquatic management area, or scientific and natural area if the insecticide is from the neonicotinoid class of insecticides or contains chlorpyrifos.
Due to a pesticide regulation loophole however, pesticide treated seed is still allowed. We want the DNR to end leases on 25,000+ acres of DNR-managed public land where corn and soy crops with pesticide-coated seed are planted. These should be returned to native habitat. Learn more about this campaign below and watch the short video (right).
Regulatory Failures in Minnesota Allow For Pesticide Contamination
Minnesota Needs Regulatory Accountability to Protect Human Health and Natural Resources
We are troubled about mounting evidence that state agencies charged with protecting Minnesota’s health and natural resources are failing to do so. Hardly a week passes without media reports that state agencies are deferring to international mining conglomerates, big agricultural interests and other polluting corporations. As a result the quality of our air, water, lands, and the health and future of our children are being compromised.
Read 2024 letter to governor here
Pig CAFO in the middle of GMO Corn Crops for Ethanol Production
This law will allow Minnesota residents to keep and increase native plantings in their yards. We encourage converting herbicide-treated, over-watered turf into biodiverse native communities.
Bill HF734 passed Minnesota legislature in 2023. 68.16 Sec. 10. [412.925] NATIVE LANDSCAPES. A statutory city or home rule charter city shall allow an owner, or authorized occupant of any privately owned lands or premises to install and maintain a managed natural landscape.
Read about one man’s fight to keep his biodiverse yard in North Mankato
Make your voice heard
Make your voice heard
•Tell your legislators to support a clean environment for
pollinator and human health
Find your representatives by zip code
• Find Minnesota legislator conservation voting records here: https://www.conservationminnesota.org/voting-records
• Find congress environmental voting records:
https://www.lcv.org/national-environmental-scorecard/
Pollinators Need Our Help in Local Communities
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Mosquito Treatments Cause Harm
Metropolitan Mosquito Control in Minnesota spraying frequency and backyard mosquito control services have seen an increase in past years. Most spray treatments from helicopter or fogger consist of a broad-spectrum insecticide, usually a pyrethroid. Pyrethroids are synthetic versions of pyrethrin, a toxin found in Chrysanthemum. Thus, mosquito control often call their application as “derived from flowers” or “green”. Pyrethroids are in fact chemical nerve agents and harmful to pollinators. Unfortunately, most mosquito insecticides are harmful to bees, particularly field worker bees that venture outside the hive. These bees can travel up to five miles to collect pollen and nectar from certain flowers and plants. They can be exposed to pesticides that have been sprayed directly on the plants from which they forage, or by pesticide drift — when wind moves pesticide from the area to another. Pesticides can kill the bees even before they make it back to the hive, and if they make it back, they infect their entire colony. You can say “no” to these treatments in your area by calling and ask that your property or community be put on their no treatment/no spray list Metropolitan Mosquito Control (MMC). MMC needs to be regulated more closely to avoid pollinator kills such as migrating Monarch groups in the State of Minnesota.
•Watch this video on ecologically designed mosquito control
• Fargo monarch massacre from mosquito control spraying
• How To Create Effective Mosquito Management Plan, Xerces Society.
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Gypsy Moth & Emerald Ash Borer Pesticide Treatments Harm
Gypsy Moth (Spongy Moth) Treatments Harm.
MDA hires cropduster contractors to spray foray insecticides over Minnesota communities annually. Foray destroys caterpiller and adult Lepidoptera (butterflies, skippers and moths). Read the gypsy moth aerial spray comments to learn more about the aggresive and unnecessary pesticide spraying program coordinated by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
• Health effects of foray 48B for people and animals.
• More on health effects of foray 48B.
Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) Treatments Harm.
Because Minnesota native ash trees lack natural resistance to some invasive pests and we do not have the right species of predators and parasitoids to keep them under control due to insect decline and nature imbalance, good cultural practices may not be enough to save the trees they attack. This holds true for emerald ash borer (EAB) infestation of Minnesota ash trees.
It’s imperative to consider environmental costs and impacts before using toxic chemical treatments for EAB. Currently, many communities and residents elect to treat infected ash with systemic insecticides which kill target and non-target insects on the tree including pollinators and beneficial insects. Pollinators can visit ash tree flowers in the spring and carry the contaminated pollen back to their colony. The benefits of retaining a tree compared to environmental costs need always be considered.
Local communities have options for treatment programs. Read about best practices here.
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Pollinator Protection Resolutions
Communities around the world and in Minnesota are taking action to protect pollinators by implementing pollinator resolutions in their communities, park districts, counties and government agencies. Anyone can start a pollinator resolution campaign in their own community. There are currently 45 cities, school districts and counties in Minnesota. Additionally, the State of Minnesota issued an Executive Order in 2016 for Pollinator Protection. Pollinator Friendly Alliance and Pollinate Minnesota help guide communities to implement resolutions and best practices to protect pollinators. Please contact us if you are interested in helping your community be safer for pollinators and people too.
•New Minnesota law allows native plantings in backyards (see above HF734)