Medina Triennial will do butterfly release Saturday from repurposed canal barge

(Left) Monarch butterflies are pollinators and essential to the environment. Photo courtesy of Dave O’Donnell. (Right) Mary Mattingly stands in an area of her floating barge where plants are growing which are favorable to Monarch butterflies. A Monarch butterfly release is scheduled at the barge at 1 p.m. July 25. Photo courtesy of Mark Tomas Duggan.

MEDINA – A repurposed barge and the Erie Canal will be the backdrop for a historic Eastern Monarch butterfly release this Saturday as part of the Medina Triennial, now taking place throughout Medina until Sept. 7.

The butterfly release will be led by Dave O’Donnell of Clarence, who runs the Eastern Monarch Butterfly Farm. O’Donnell is on the board of the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge, where he created pollination gardens at the Cayuga Overlook. He explained the 80% decline of Monarch butterflies in recent years is due to human destruction of the one plant they need to survive – the milkweed.

After O’Donnell was put in touch with Mary Mattingly, who created the Triennial’s floating barge for of vegetation, a section of the barge was dedicated to native plants favorable for butterflies.

“This is a great educational project, as well as a beautiful art installation,” O’Donnell said of the barge. “Sustainability – climate change, the environment are big issues. No matter what our ideologies are, we don’t bother about butterflies. Butterflies are pollinators, but more importantly to me, butterflies are a part of our culture.”

He hopes his programs with butterflies will bring people together for one cause – to protect our natural environment.

“A lot of pollinators and birds are disappearing and nobody is aware of it,” O’Donnell said. “Monarchs have such an interesting life cycle.”

He explained how after being released they travel to Mexico.

“Their population is down 80% because of one plant we call a ‘weed,’” O’Donnell said.

Milkweed is essential to the life of a Monarch butterfly, because milkweed is toxic, and therefore unpalatable to predators of butterflies and caterpillars.

Attending the butterfly release will be Professor of Ecology Nicholas Henshue of the University of Buffalo, who is also with the Department of Environment and Sustainability, and a a representative of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Schedule:

• 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Environmental organization tents open at Erie Canal Basin, behind the Medina Triennial Hub, 345 Main Street, Medina, NY 14103
• 12 p.m. – Floating Garden Harvest: Forage for a selection of fruit, vegetables and herbs.
• 2 p.m. – Program concludes

(In the event of rain, this program will be held on Sunday, July 26. The Medina Triennial’s public programs are free and open to the public.)