Program Spotlight: Pollinator Central
If you picture a prairie in your mind’s eye, you might imagine vast rolling plains of grasses and wildflowers. But what if we told you that some of the most vital prairies may be only a short stretch of land along a road, or in the boulevard of a high school? Our Pollinator Central program supports prairie restoration on a wide scale, transforming often-overlooked green spaces with a broader vision: How can we see our impact more than just plants?
Pollinator monitoring field day at Ritter Farm Park, 2025. Photo by Ariana Golemis.
From Turf to Prairie: Small Spaces, Big Impact
Pollinator Central supports restoration work focused on turf to prairie conversions, transforming high maintenance, drought-prone grass berms (or strips of land) into verdant native prairie habitat. Wildflowers, grasses and native shrubs have much deeper roots, enabling them to be more drought-resistant, prevent soil erosion, better retain nutrients, and withstand Minnesota weather year-round. But beyond that, our native prairies provide essential support for native species that rely on these plants for food and habitat.
Prairies are a refuge for numerous species, especially in spring and fall. The plants range from wildflowers that will bloom in the spring and early summer, such as prairie smoke, red columbine, and butterfly weed, to ones that will be bright and productive all the way into the fall, like lobelia and rose milkweed. Staggered blooms of native flowers support early spring insects as they pollinate the first of the season’s flowers, and late fall pollinators as they make their way towards migrating south or hunkering down for the winter. Beyond providing food, prairies provide essential habitat year-round. As the growing season comes to an end, many insects and small mammals find shelter in the tall grasses or curl up to overwinter in stems of plants. Birds flock to dormant prairies in fall and winter to eat seeds from spent blooms of plants like coneflowers. What may look like a patch of grasses can be the difference between surviving a harsh winter for native pollinator populations.
Before (2022) and after (2024) of turf to prairie conversion at Two Rivers High School. Photos by Becca Tucker.
One of the ways that we strive to help is by creating ‘pollinator corridors’. Like small islands of prairie, these habitats are not physically connected but form continuous paths to pollinator safe havens. Great River Greening Twin Cities Metro Program Manager, Becca Tucker, explains that even solitary native plants play an important role, “Connected by these bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other wildlife that hopscotch from one area to another, taking pollen from one to another and continuing the life of these perennial plants long into the future.” On a visual level, these small pockets of prairie may not appear to be very substantial, but together fortify native habitat and boost pollinator populations. And importantly, Becca adds, “The volume of things that can interact with that space is bigger than it seems.” A small berm may host a busy string of pollinator visitors in a year if it’s one of the few late season blooms in fall, or if it’s a long way to the next patch of flowers.
Bee balm, a flower that has supported high abundance and diversity of bumblebees every year of the program, 2025. Photo by Alex Bahr.
Measuring More Than Acres and Plants
Conservation successes can be counted in many ways, whether you’re looking at the number of plants that get planted, pounds of seed distributed, or acres restored. When developing the Pollinator Central program around 6 years ago, our staff wanted to focus on the impact of restoration beyond land and plant communities and observe what other elements can be monitored to see the tangible impact of our work. More specifically, Becca says, “Are we noticing differences over time with the pollinators themselves? And if so, can we engage people in a different way?”
Measuring impact on the scale of insects is not easily done. It’s with the help of our team of volunteer pollinator monitors that we’re able to gauge insect interactions with these areas, noting what species are visiting restoration sites, the number of pollinators in a space during the interval of observation, and even what species of flowers they land on. Over the past few years of this program, we’ve established a strong community of volunteers and host annual trainings for local naturalists and pollinator enthusiasts who are looking to get involved. Our partnership with the UMN Bee Lab is an important part of this monitoring effort. Together, we host a series of capture and release pollinator field days each year, with the help of their expertise and permits necessary to perform this type of observation. This unique partnership allows us to monitor areas with federally endangered species like the monarch butterfly and the rusty patched bumble bee, Minnesota’s own state bee. Working with our partners and volunteer pollinator monitors throughout the growing season allows us to measure how these spaces change year-to-year and engage community members in learning about the world of pollinators.
A bee is gently contained to be identified, recorded, marked, and released by a pollinator monitor, 2025. Photo by Ariana Golemis.
A bee hangs around while another is being marked and released at Ritter Farm Park, 2025. Photo by Ariana Golemis.
The data gathered each year our informs our ongoing restoration work and speaks to the successes of the program. In the past four summers at our sites, we’ve seen an increased number of native bee species, a growth in bumblebee species diversity, and the return of the rusty patched bumble bee, with a record number of observations this summer! More than that, the Pollinator Central program has been very successful in working with community members across the state, from providing environmental learning to students to engaging volunteers in trainings, monitoring, planting, and seeding events year-round. Together, we’re driving positive change for pollinators and the planet—one bee at a time.
Federally endangered rusty patched bumble bee at a Great River Greening restored prairie site (Oheyawahi), 2020. Photo by Becca Tucker.
If you’re interested in getting involved, visit our events page and keep an eye on our social media for opportunities. For more details on our work restoring and protecting pollinator habitat, click here. Pollinator monitoring has concluded for the year, but we’ll be doing restoration work all winter! And, one of the easiest ways to get involved is to join us in creating safe places to boost pollinator populations. Here are a few simple ways to help:
Leave your leaves in the fall for overwintering habitat
Don’t cut back spent blooms to provide a fall and winter food source
Incorporate native plants into your garden (recommendations here!)
Plant flowers with staggered blooms throughout the season.
Funding for this project is being provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. Great River Greening’s Pollinator Central grant series comes from the 40% of net Minnesota State Lottery proceeds that are dedicated to growing the Trust Fund and ensuring future benefits for Minnesota’s environment and natural resources. This community centered use of public funding ties the residents to the physical impacts the work has on the environment in their local spaces and drives interest in this stewardship through outreach and education.