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Students urge Truckee to join Bee City USA to protect native pollinators
Summary
Students from Tahoe Expeditionary Academy asked the Town of Truckee to pursue Bee City USA designation through the Xerces Society, outlining habitat, pesticide, education and signage commitments and offering school support for outreach and an application fee contribution.
Students from Tahoe Expeditionary Academy asked the Truckee Town Council on June 24 to make the town a Bee City USA community, a designation administered by the Xerces Society that the students said would focus town and community efforts on protecting native pollinators.
The students told the council native bees — including mason, mining, sweat and leafcutter bees — are declining locally and nationally and said Bee City USA provides a structure for communities to add native plants, provide nesting sites, reduce pesticide use and run public education events. They offered to help create a native plant list, help with outreach at local nurseries and to contribute funds toward the program application from school fundraisers.
The students described the Xerces Society as an international nonprofit that works on invertebrate conservation and said Bee City USA and Bee Campus USA are programs that provide a community framework for habitat and education. They listed typical Bee City commitments: forming a local committee with staff and community members, increasing pollinator habitat on public and private land, reducing pesticide use through a pest-management plan, and installing at least one sign recognizing Bee City status.
Council members praised the presentation and thanked the students for their work. Council member Polavie said the idea is not in the town work plan this year but could be considered in future years and encouraged the students to pursue a nonprofit if they wanted to accelerate progress. Vice Mayor Klobstad and other council members suggested outreach to local groups such as the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District and Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships and referenced the Recreation District’s land as potential sites for native plantings.
No formal action was taken at the meeting; council members asked staff and students to continue discussions, encouraged school involvement and suggested the students follow up with town staff and with local nonprofits to explore next steps.
The students also offered to host events and to use their 5,000-square-foot school pollinator garden for educational programming.
