Protecting pollinators, one plant at a time. WEC Energy Group, the parent company of We Energies, was recently recognized for its efforts to help conserve the monarch butterfly population.
At a conference in June, the Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group (ROWHWG) presented WEC Energy Group with the Asclepias Adder Award. The award celebrates the high concentration of milkweed on We Energies land. This is the third year in a row the company has won the award.
Milkweed plants serve as a food source and home for monarch butterflies. Planting milkweed is considered an essential step in the conservation of monarchs. The butterflies could be added to the endangered species list as soon as December.
We Energies has committed hundreds of acres of land to help conserve the monarch population. Employees actively manage that land to ensure monarchs have an ideal habitat.
This year, WEC Energy Group was also honored with a High Flyer Award, which recognizes organizations that are going above and beyond their existing monarch habitat commitments.
WEC Energy Group is proud to be a member of ROWHWG, a collaboration of more than 400 organizations from across private industry, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and academia in the United States and Canada.
In 2022, the company joined the Nationwide Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) for the monarch butterfly. The voluntary program, led by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Illinois Chicago, encourages transportation and energy partners to participate in monarch butterfly conservation.
WEC Energy Group is in the process of significantly expanding its participation on company lands across Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.