Funding Sought To Save Monarch Butterflies Flying Across Tulsa

There's a new effort to make Tulsa a "Monarch City" as in Monarch butterfly.

Tulsa is on the migration path of the monarch, though fewer of them come through because the species is in decline.  It's blamed on a loss of habitat - in particular the milkweed plants on which they lay eggs.  

2/12/2015 Related Story: Oklahoma Critical Piece In Preventing Extinction Of Monarch Butterfly

Some interested Tulsans have applied for a grant that would pay for a monarch program in Tulsa, at Oxley Nature Center to help encourage people to plant gardens that attract monarchs.  

"If we get the grant, Oxley has agreed to give us space for a lab we could use for the collection, cleaning and sorting of seeds that would then be distributed throughout the city," said Pearl Garrison, Monarch Initiative of Tulsa.  

The Tulsa City Council is lending support, but no money to back the group as they apply for a federal grant.