Mallach said town leaders are going to spend the next year working on planting pollinator-friendly plants, distributing seeds to local green-thumbs and educating the public on monarch butterflies as she has signed the National Wildlife Foundation’s “Mayors’ Monarch Pledge.”

Mallach said she first heard about this pledge last year, but by the time she learned about it, the window to apply had already closed. So for around a year, she had “monarch butterfly application” marked on the town calendar for December 2023. Mallach brought this up at a town meeting a couple months back and resident David Lynch, who was attending, volunteered to help out.

The pledge comes with a long list of actions the town can make to fulfill the requirements to be part of the NWF’s list. Harrietstown has already completed the minimum three actions on the first day acting on the pledge — the council issued a proclamation, the councilmembers are individually sponsoring a pollinator plot at the community garden on Old Lake Colby Road and Mallach ordered milkweed seeds to distribute that are in the mail.

“However, we’re striving for more,” Lynch said in a statement.

Rye Shubert, 3, almost 4, decorates a monarch butterfly cookie baked by Harrietstown town Supervisor Jordanna Mallach on Thursday before eating it during an event celebrating the town’s commitment to supporting these tiny winged insects. Shubert said orange is his favorite color because it is “bright.” (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

He said the town and volunteers are going to work toward completing the eight or more action items needed to earn a special recognition from the NWF.

“The monarch butterfly is an iconic North American species whose multi-generational migration and metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly has captured the imagination of millions of Americans,” the resolution reads.

But the eastern monarch butterfly’s populations have decreased by 80% to 90% in recent decades, according to the resolution. Lynch pointed out that monarchs were classified as “vulnerable to extinction” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature last year.

Scientists attribute this decline in population largely to habitat loss and chemical use.

The resolution says local government plays a “critical role” in supporting these winged pollinators, adding that they are essential to well-functioning ecosystems. Decisions by town employees in mowing, pesticide use and planting can make a difference in making the town inviting to the winged royalty.

Rye Shubert, 3, almost 4, decorates a monarch butterfly cookie baked by Harrietstown town Supervisor Jordanna Mallach on Thursday before eating it during an event celebrating the town’s commitment to supporting these tiny winged insects. Shubert said orange is his favorite color because it is “bright.” (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Turning town-owned spaces into pollinator safe spaces, removing invasive species, urging residents to plant milkweed and other pollinators or simply celebrating monarchs are all helpful actions.

Catherine Smith coordinates the Butterfly House at the Paul Smith’s College Visitor Interpretive Center, which tags monarchs with tags distributed by the University of Kansas’ monarchwatch.org. It is an “extremely lightweight” tag on the hind wing of the butterfly with a bar code on it.

Smith said the VIC tags 300 monarchs sometimes. But last year, they didn’t crack 200, likely due to the cold weather in the summer.

Paul Smith’s College biology professor Janet Mihuc said there are four generations of monarchs in the U.S. each year.

“The monarchs we see here are the last generation. They’re the ones that actually leave here and make a trip of up to 3,000 miles to Mexico,” she said.

From left, Saranac Lake village Manager Bachana Tsiklauri, Eva Milne and Oliver Milne decorate monarch butterfly cookies baked by Harrietstown town Supervisor Jordanna Mallach on Thursday at an event celebrating the town’s commitment to supporting these tiny winged insects. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

One monarch tagged at the VIC in 2019 was found 2,500 miles away in Mexico that winter.

Mihuc excitedly read off a certificate she has hung on her wall commemorating the journey of a monarch she tagged in 2001 that traveled 2,315 miles from Plattsburgh to El Rosario, Mexico — the main wintering grounds for monarchs.

“It’s a long journey for such a small organism,” she said.

Mihuc said they travel to the same place every year, guided mostly by chemical cues and instinct. They ride the thermal wind currents up high by day and stop to feed and rest through the night.

But the journey is treacherous. Many do not make it. The reasons why are hard to gauge, Mihuc said. It is hard to track data on butterflies because they are so small and light. Their declining migratory populations are attributed to human expansion in their world, adding things like cars, pesticides and poor quality nectar that did not exist before.

A monarch butterfly is seen at the Butterfly House at the Paul Smith's College VIC. (Enterprise file photo — Lauren Yates)

Mihuc said monarchs are a reminder why native plants so important, and that the colorful butterflies are a great introduction to insects for children.