Tom Landis has a PhD in Forest Ecology and has worked for 30 years as a nursery specialist for the USDA Forest Service. He now runs Native Plant Nursery Consulting and is a member of the Southern Oregon Monarch Advocates, where he provides educational and hands-on Milkweed and Monarch Workshops. The Southern Oregon Monarch Advocates are a dynamic group of people united in a common goal: to help the western monarch butterfly focusing on public outreach, creating habitat by establishing Monarch Waystations, planting native milkweed and nectar species, and raising monarchs.

Listen in to learn more about the Monarch butterfly, what Monarch waystations are and why they exist, and their unique system of migration.

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“The adult butterfly weighs half as much as a paperclip, yet they fly 40 miles a day and up to 700 miles [to their destination].“ – Tom Landis

Show Notes:

• Where the migratory Monarch butterflies live in Oregon
• The unique migratory process of the Monarch butterfly
• What fuels the super generation’s long migration
• Why Monarchs need a certain kind of tree canopy to survive
• What are Monarch waystations and who came up with the idea
• What Monarch waystations contain for Monarch butterflies
• How Tom is helping spread Monarch waystations throughout southern Oregon
• What it means when you see a whole cluster of butterflies in one spot
• How you can make your own Monarch waystation

“That’s what’s so amazing about monarchs; you think of that fourth generation, they’re flying back to where their great-great-grandparents came from, and they’ve never been there.“ – Tom Landis

Links Mentioned:

• Find out more about the Southern Oregon Monarchs Advocates
• Read Tom’s article “Monarch waystations” from the Native Plants Journal
• Learn more about the Monarch Waystation Program
• Look at the “State of Monarch Butterfly Overwintering Sites in California”
• Tom’s favorite books on pollinators:
  • “Native pollinator plants for Southern Oregon”
  • “Attracting Native Pollinators”
• Tom’s tool recommendation: growing milkweeds
• Learn more about Tom’s favorite pollinator, the Monarch butterfly (of course)
• Connect with Tom Landis at SOMonarchs.org