There is an area within the CCC Nature Trail, located on a hill behind Prospect Street, where milkweed and other wild plant life grows in abundance. Milkweed is essential to the survival of monarch butterflies, whose status is currently threatened. Monarchs cannot survive without milkweed—they need it to lay their eggs and their caterpillars only eat milkweed.

In the past, this area has been left to grow and has served as a habitat for monarch butterflies, deer, and other wildlife. In recent years, this area of the nature center has been mowed repeatedly and regularly throughout the summer months, effectively destroying the habitat, as well as wasting resources and polluting the environment with unnecessary and indeed harmful maintenance. Milkweed is being lost in landscapes across the country due to poor land management practices like this, and monarch butterfly populations are dwindling.

Please sign this petition to tell Dr. Brian Durant, President of Cayuga Community College, and the CCC Building & Grounds crew, to stop the unnecessary mowing of this precious landscape and natural habitat to the monarch butterfly and other wildlife. There is no practical reason for it to be mowed, as a gravel walking trail encircles the hill for visitors to use and enjoy. A road has already been paved across the hill for maintenance, permanently decimating a large area of this crucial landscape. The plant life, when left to grow naturally, obstructs nothing and only adds value to the environment and beauty to the landscape.

No donations are necessary to support this cause. Please sign and share the petition. It’s also very helpful if you include a note to explain why you’re signing and the importance of preserving this habitat for wildlife.