California

In the 1980s the western monarch migration count was up to 4.5 million butterflies per year. In 2021 that number fell to less than 3,000 individuals – a population collapse. This year, 2026, the count is slightly more than 12,000 individuals – still an approximately 99.7% collapse.

Monarchs are an indicator species, and many scientists now estimate a staggering 40% of North American pollinators, including monarchs, are at risk of extinction.

In 2025 Audubon also warned that all American songbirds, among a list of more than 360 bird species, are also at risk of extinction.

Without pollinators countless species are at risk of extinction – including humans.

Volunteers have galvanized across the West for the rescue of monarchs and pollinators. In collaboration with the California Wildlife Conservation Board, Sonoma State University, the City of Santa Rosa, and many others, we are building monarch and native pollinator waystations for a migration corridor across central Sonoma County.

Give now to help us save this iconic species.

Soil erosion is among the greatest threats facing all life. After a megafire, or as a result of plowing, the root and fungal networks holding the soil together are gone. The soil is loosened and vulnerable. Rain washes it away. Wind blows it away. It erodes hundreds of times faster than the soil’s living biome can create new soil.

Fast-growing native grasses are perhaps our best means to give time enough after degradation – mining, farming, deforestation, etc. – for the living soil to re-establish before being blown or washed away.