The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agency’s Western Monarch Working Group is pleased to join Monarch Joint Venture to present our 3-part summer webinar series, “Out West: Western Monarch Conservation Efforts” that will address national policy updates, current research, and monitoring work that affect the western population of monarch butterflies.

This series is aimed at providing a path for state-level implementation of strategies in the 2019 Western Monarch Conservation Plan (WMCP) in place of our annual “Take Flight” conference with sectors and stakeholders, to be followed with an in-person meeting in 2021.

·       Our June webinar speakers will cover an overview of the WMCP, the current status for the Western Monarch population and listing decision, an update on the federal Monarch Conservation Database, and opportunities to manage rights-of-way as monarch habitat. View the RECORDING at the Monarch Joint Venture (monarchjointventure.org).

·       Our July speakers will focus on monarch breeding and migratory habitat across the West, including updates on population patterns, new techniques for mapping habitat, and an analysis of threats facing breeding and migrating monarchs. View the RECORDING at the Monarch Joint Venture (monarchjointventure.org).

·       Our August speakers will provide updates on overwintering habitat, including a conservation status, an explanation of habitat selection by micro-climates, grove management, and actions being taken to implement the WMCP.  View the RECORDING at the Monarch Joint Venture (monarchjointventure.org).

Out West Webinar Details:

Thursday, June 18, 2020 – 10:00-11:30 am PST: Monarch Policy Update 

1. Amanda Barth (Utah Dept. of Natural Resources | WMWG Chair) – Overview of Western Monarch Conservation Plan 2019
2. Cat Darst (USFWS) – Western Monarch population status/SSA/ESA listing
3. Steven Choy (USFWS) – Monarch Conservation Database
4. Iris Caldwell (University of Illinois—Chicago) – Monarch ROW CCAA in the Western US
5. Q&A 

Thursday, July 16, 10:00-11:30 am PST: Breeding/Migratory Habitat 

1. Emma Pelton (Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation) – Update on current breeding and migratory patterns and monarch populations in the west
2. Tom Dilts, PhD (University of Nevada, Reno) – Mapping monarch habitat (protocols and technology)
3. Elizabeth Crone, PhD (Tufts University) – Updated insights on threats to western monarch persistence
4. Q&A

Thursday, August 20, 10:00-11:30 am PST: Overwintering Habitat 

1. Emma Pelton (Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation) – Overwintering status and conservation update
2. Francis Villablanca, PhD (Cal Poly State University) – Overwintering habitat selection and micro climates
3. Stephanie Little (California State Parks) – Overwintering Grove Plan development and implementation
4. Erin Chappell/Samantha Marcum (WMWG | Overwintering Land Managers Group) – Overwintering actions and progress from WMCP
5. Q&A