BCCC STEM instructor Michael Bernarsky, College President Stephanie Shanblatt, Tyler State Park Manager Brian Flores and Tony Gay, PECO vice president of Governmental and External Affairs.
Credit: Submitted
Officials from Bucks County Community College, PECO, and Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources gathered at Tyler State Park in Newtown last week to dedicate a long-term habitat restoration project.
Community College students, park staff, and volunteers from PECO and the community were on hand to plant native seed mixes and milkweed plugs at two of the habitats located near the main entrance of the park. The third and largest habitat, approximately 10 acres on the western side of the park, is estimated to take five years to fully restore.
The project, according to officials, is supported by a $10,000 grant from PECO. The project will help serve as a destination for monarch butterflies during their annual migration to Mexico, and allow Bucks students to gain scientific research experience while enhancing the park’s environmental education program.
The three habitats have become part of a nationwide effort to save endangered monarch butterflies.
Key components of all three habitats include a mix of native flowers with different bloom times, including some overlap in flowering, to ensure a stable food source for butterflies, native milkweed to provide food for monarch caterpillars, minimal, well-timed management that limits impact to all pollinators, including butterflies, while eliminating woody species as needed, interpretative wayside exhibit panels and nature trails, and avoidance of insecticides.
