Supporting the pollinators, city turning quarry into prairie

32-acre site on top of bluff near Hixon could become monarch sanctuary

Federal grant money has helped to spark a huge native plant species project in the Mathy Quarry property in La Crosse at the top of the bluffs next to Hixon Forest.  

U.S. Fish and Wildlife grants are helping to pay for removing invasive species, while planting native ones like milkweed to help the pollinators, especially the monarch butterfly.  

“We want to increase biodiversity,” Sunshine Love with the city’s forestry dept. said. “We want to increase our native pollinating plants and increase the quality of pollen for our pollinators.

“This is going to help our bee populations, our butterfly populations, beyond monarchs. A huge variety of pollinators (will) use it.”

 

 

Through today, the Mathy Quarry will be closed to the public for a herbicide application that’s meant to kill off remnants of invasive plants that have been mostly removed in a 32-acre area. 

Treatment continues today in 32 acres of the Mathy Quarry property next to Hixon Forest at the top of the bluffs.  

The area may, someday, turn into a Monarch hibernation stop, Love added.

“It’s definitely going to take a few years, but mostly, we’re just hoping to see an increase in monarchs and an increase in a whole variety of our pollinators because they’re so important,” Love said.

Crews have cut down invasive plants like honeysuckle and crown vetch, as part of the process to move to more native species.

“It’s not like we’re planting a whole field of milkweed,” Love said. “We’re planting a whole field of a variety of native prairie plants. Hopefully that will give good quality pollen from spring all the way until fall.