Ryall, M. E. (17 October 2007). Monarch butterfly habitat news. Washburn County Register, p. 18.

Monarch Butterfly Habitat News

By Mary Ellen Ryall

SHELL LAKE - Volunteers Amber Anderson and Jennifer Ullrich from the Cloverleaf 4H Club, along with their leader Angie Anderson joined Brigette Hungerbuhler and Mary Ellen Ryall at the Shell Lake Public Library's UFO Club. With shovels, gloves, and containers they then descended on the Shoreline Restoration Project near Shell Lake Beach. Brent Edlin, Land and Water Conservation Development, gave permission for the group to transplant runners and gather seed from the shoreline site and transfer plant materials to the Monarch Butterfly Habitat. Amber and Jennifer gathered seed while Angie and Mary Ellen dug up perennial wild rose, sunflower, wild bergamot, and tall bluestrum native grasses that had spilled into the shoreline's pathway.

Meanwhile, Brigette scattered common milkweed seed in site two and three. Common milkweed seed is now successfully planted in all three sites. At site one, Angie and Mary Ellen dug holes while Amber and Jennifer helped plant the perennials. In the future, shrubs will be interspersed within all three sites near the Department of Transportation (DOT) boundary line. The shrubs will act as a sound barrier and provide some semi privacy from the road, which in turn will discreetly accent several viewing areas for butterfly visitors.