By Michaela Rogers, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and Tammy Potter, Kentucky State Apiarist with Kentucky Department of Agriculture
Kentucky Department of Agriculture stakeholders with the Kentucky Pollinator Protection and Monarch Conservation group met on July 20th at the Louisville Zoo and Botanical Gardens. This group meets annually to discuss pollinator conservation topics and projects dedicated to improving pollinator habitat and public knowledge on the plight of pollinators in our state. Members include representatives from a variety of sectors: agriculture, education, transportation right of ways, state and local government, federal government, nonprofits, private and public nature preserves, garden clubs, beekeepers, private businesses, and interested members of the public.
This July, 65 attendees came together to learn about the Louisville Zoo’s pollinator work and hear updates from various stakeholders including the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Cave Hill Cemetery, and the Waterfront Botanical Gardens.
After a tour of the zoo’s gardens, led by Matthew Lahm of the Louisville Zoo, participants in this year’s meeting heard from several experts:
- Tony Romano, Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves: Roadside Remnants and Pollinator Habitat
- Katie Cody, Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves: Pollinators in the Forest
- Michaela Rogers, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and Shelby Fulton, Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves: State Wildlife Action Plan Insect Update and Partner Engagement
- Christy Wampler and Nathan Lind, United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service: USDA-NRCS Updates
- Michael Higgs, Cave Hill Cemetery: Cave Hill is More than a Cemetery
- Kat Rivers, Waterfront Botanical Gardens: Planning for Pollinators
Stakeholders made connections with others pursuing pollinator projects throughout Kentucky and learn about resources offered through various programs highlighted by presenters. Columbia Gas and Roundstone Native Seed Company have worked to convert natural gas rights-of-way to pollinator habitat, and the Transportation Cabinet and the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves are working on similar projects.
This year, members of this group also learned about the Pollinator Protection Program Web App, which allows farmers and other chemical applicators to communicate via text or email with beekeepers when a label requires communication. This app assists with EPA compliancy and is free to farmers, applicators, landowners, beekeepers, etc.
This group meets annually and tries to find a new site each year. Last year, they met at James Audubon State Park. The Kentucky Pollinator Stakeholders group plans to meet again in Berea Kentucky in 2024, with a date and location to be announced later.
Michaela Rogers is an Environmental Scientist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. She serves as the Monarch and Pollinator Coordinator for the agency and manages implementation of the Kentucky Monarch Conservation Plan.
After working for six years with coal companies to establish pollinator habitat on former surface mine sites and working in the queen bee season in the winters, Tammy Horn Potter became Kentucky’s State Apiarist in 2014. She collects honey bee samples for the USDA Honey Bee Health Survey and has worked extensively to improve genetic diversity of queen bees with the Kentucky Queen Bee Breeders Association. She has also worked to improve honey label information with the Kentucky State Beekeepers Association. She is particularly proud of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture Pollinator Protection Plan both for its diversity of stakeholders and for the department’s creation of an app, which coordinates spray information between applicators and beekeepers.