Photo by Bruce Dupree, Alabama Cooperative Extension System
Join us at Minsky’s to Learn About Kansas City Wildlands
Date: Tues., Oct. 27
Time: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Location: Minsky’s South Plaza, 5105 Main, KCMO
Come and hang out with like-minded people who care about conservation and the planet, in a convivial setting!
Our October speaker will be Jacobo Barriga, Program Coordinator for Kansas City Wildlands , who will tell us about their work and how they prioritize restoration activities.
We'll also share an Action Item, where we contact legislators or submit comments about an issue.
We look forward to sharing food and drinks and learning more!
We will pre-order pizza, so please be sure to RSVP so we can have an accurate head count. Drinks are on your own! We will pass the hat to pay for the pizza and salad.
We coordinated deployment of Blu+ radio tags on monarch butterflies in Boonville on Sunday Sept. 20th. Laura Semken (Missouri Conservation Corps) and Kristen Baum (Monarch Watch Director) led us in catching monarchs, then "processing" them and applying the solar-powered tags. It is a delicate operation; volunteers caught a total of twelve monarchs—but only six met the criteria of being big enough and free of the OE parasite, for carrying the radio tag. The remaining six were given Monarch Watch sticky tags, which have been in use for over 30 years. You can follow the paths of those who are carrying the radio tags with the Project Monarch appor download the apps from Google Play Store, Apple App Store.
Data last year indicated a lack of migration through Missouri; data so far this year seems to repeat that—more monarchs are flying through Illinois and Kansas. And it appears that a couple of our tagged monarchs have stalled. We are hoping to deploy the four remaining tags; a trip to Warrensburg did not find many monarchs. In our hunts for monarchs, we've seen they prefer sunflowers for nectar—and ignore goldenrod. So, the lesson is that we should increase the plants they need for migration. We'll continue urging MoDOT and local communities to incorporate native plants wherever possible!
Tagging monarchs at George Owens Nature Park brought out families for a cool afternoon—but only one monarch was caught; the lucky young boy was excited to apply the tag!
Our pollinator garden at Wendell Phillips is in the "sleep" phase, with roots developing. We're planning to bring more lessons to the students in this next school year. Monarchs have a deep cultural meaning to people of Mexican heritage; we want to highlight this with Dia de Los Muertos celebrations.
Photo: Monarch tagging in Boonville byJennifer Helber
Apply to be a member of THB Group Executive Commmittee
Help steer our Thomas Hart Benton Group through serving on our 7-member volunteer Executive Committee (ExCom). Our ExCom ensures that we remain steadfast in our mission to protect our planet, and we are calling on YOU to nominate others (or yourself) to serve on our leadership committee! Applications are due October 16.
Join Sarah Cain, Certified Forest Therapy Guide and Sierra Club member for a morning of Forest Bathing! Forest bathing, also called Forest Therapy or Shinrin-Yoku, is about slowing down, reconnecting to the healing power of nature, and rebuilding a connection with the Earth. In a guided forest therapy experience, you will be led through a series of simple activities to help you experience the natural world with all of your senses. Studies have shown Forest Bathing can reduce stress and anxiety and improve mental well-being.
While a full forest therapy experience normally lasts 2.5 – 3 hours, this will be an “introductory” session that only lasts about 90 minutes. Join us!
Please donate to the Thomas Hart Benton Group—Thanks!
You can probably tell from recent Newsletters that we are getting a lot more active in 2026. We welcome all the new friends and allies we have been meeting and speaking with at our recent in-person meetings. We also welcome any donations you can spare to help with all our new activities…thanks so much! Every little bit helps!
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