Friend,

One of the best bee habitats is grassland prairie, with long grass taller than people, wildflowers in every color and a gold mine of pollen and nectar for these hard-working pollinators to fill up on.

That prairie habitat is a sliver of what it used to be, replaced with farmland. But those same farms have a chance to be a part of the solution by planting prairie strips and restoring critical bee habitat.

Tell the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA): Plant prairie habitat for the bees.
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Crops only provide bees with food until the harvest. And when those acres become a dusty brown, bees struggle to find enough food to keep them full through the winter.

Restoring prairieland would provide bees the nectar and pollen they need to survive. It would also benefit farmers -- prairie strips have been shown to help reduce soil erosion and filter water pollution.[1]

Clean water, healthy soil and happy bees is a win-win-win. And even better, the USDA already has money to invest in conservation efforts like this one. In addition to funds already available, Congress allocated nearly $20 billion more to USDA's conservation programs through the Inflation Reduction Act.[2]

USDA's Conservation Reserve Program can help farmers plant prairie strips around the country. We just have to convince them that prairie planting is the best way to spend those funds.[3]

Urge the USDA to use its conservation programs to plant more bee-friendly habitat.
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In the 1800s, prairie stretched as far as the eye could see and covered a third of America. The sea of grass stretched from the Dakotas to Texas -- until the cowboys and settlers rode in and started plowing and grazing. Now the tallgrass prairie covers only 4% of its original area.[4]

Prairie ecosystems are few and far between for pollinators. The endangered rusty patched bumblebee once lived in these grasslands, and habitat loss is a major factor that led to their decline.[5]

Creating more habitat for bees will help them recover -- whether it supports a honeybee saddled up with pollen or an endangered rusty patched bumble bee. These bees need a little home on the prairie.

We already have a tool and the funds to plant more bee-friendly habitat. Let's make sure we use it to help protect these critical pollinators.

Ask the USDA to plant prairie strips for the bees.
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Thank you,

Ellen Montgomery

1. Amy Mayer, "Prairie Strips Now Part Of Federal Conservation Program," Harvest Public Media, January 17, 2020.
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2. "Inflation Reduction Act Investments in FPAC Programs," U.S. Department of Agriculture, last accessed November 4, 2022.
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3. Amy Mayer, "Prairie Strips Now Part Of Federal Conservation Program," Harvest Public Media, January 17, 2020.
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4. "A Complex Prairie Ecosystem," National Park Service, last accessed November 4, 2022.
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5. "Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, Habitat," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, last accessed November 4, 2022.
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