January 2023: The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation reports over 330,000 monarchs were counted at overwintering sites before storms. Surveying a total of 272 overwintering sites across coastal California and a few sites in interior California and Arizona, volunteers tallied 335,479 monarch butterflies during the 2022 Thanksgiving Count which ran November 12 - December 4, 2022.
Supporting pollinator health is an essential part of how the CCRCD encourages biodiversity and ecosystem sustainability in Contra Costa County. In order to best support pollinator conservation efforts in our area, we rely on the latest scientific research on pollinators to ensure the practices we teach and implement are safe and effective. A few of the resources we depend upon for information include the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, The Monarch Joint Venture, and several local scientists with expertise in pollinator conservation.
This CCRCD Monarch Conservation Program web page delves into the importance of pollinators and ways you can help them right now. It is packed with helpful resources for learning more about monarchs and other pollinators. Please note that the information on this page is specifically tailored to be most helpful to people who live or work in Contra Costa County and for supporting pollinator populations in the West.
Click here to read the press release about grant funding that the CCRCD was awarded to help monarchs on Contra Costa’s working lands.
Please reach out to us if you have questions about monarch butterflies or other pollinators and ways you can help them.
The development and creation of this Monarch Conservation Program web page was funded by the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts and a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
CCRCD staff are always on the lookout for monarchs and other pollinators. Whenever we can, we take photos in the field so we can share the splendor of California’s biodiverse pollinators with you. The photo gallery below features many different types of pollinators, pollinator plants, and pollinator gardens and hedgerows. Enjoy!
Skills: Horticulture, CA native plants, invasive plant management, pollinators, environmental education, project management, grant writing
Fun Fact: Enjoys birding, photography, knitting, flower arranging, and traveling
Lisa serves as Watershed Conservation Manager for the Walnut Creek Watershed, she facilitates the Contra Costa Watershed Forum, and she leads the CCRCD’s Monarch Conservation Program. She joined the CCRCD’s staff in January 2019. She has worked on a range of projects to conserve Contra Costa County's watersheds and biodiversity including native plant establishment, pollinator habitat establishment, invasive plant management, environmental education programming, and creek restoration.
Lisa is from Los Angeles and has a BA with Honors in English from the University of California at Berkeley. She earned a Professional Sequence in Editing certificate from UC Berkeley Extension and worked in publishing for 10 years, primarily editing educational materials including science textbooks and curricula.
Her passion for nature led her back to school to study horticulture at Diablo Valley College where she earned a Nursery Technician certificate. She likes hiking with friends and family, eating chocolate, watching baseball, and creating beautiful things.