On Saturday April 21st, 2018 twenty participants from Turlock and Pitman High Schools worked with the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge to plant milkweed seeds around the Elk enclosure. We learned what makes milkweed so important, it is essential to the nesting of monarch butterflies! The monarch is a keystone species, which means without its existence there would be a huge ecological collapse. Milkweed grows well in dry grasslands, and it provides the breading grounds for monarchs. The goal of the planting is the help provide additional space for the monarchs to breed and rest during their migration.

We not only planted milkweed in the ground, we also planted some seeds in pots. The goal here was to see if one type of planting would be more successful then the other. After all our hard work in the field we heard from two Wildlife Biologists, who shared their journey into working for the federal government. It was great to hear the work they put in to land amazing jobs at the refuge!

All in all in was a great day to explore the refuge, learn about milkweed, monarchs, and working for our public lands! Huge thank you to the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge to facilitating this project! At the end of the day, the group went on a driving tour of the Elk Refuge to see if they could spot an elk!!