RESOLUTION FOR BOARD MEETING OF JUNE 15, 2023
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RESOLUTION sponsored by the Board of Commissioners recognizing National Pollinators Week
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WHEREAS, National Pollinators Week is an annual international celebration of pollinator health, meant to recognize and celebrate the invaluable work pollinators do and spread the word about what can be done to protect them; and
WHEREAS, National Pollinators Week was started by the Pollinator Partnership, receiving unanimous approval from the U.S. Senate fifteen years ago, and has now grown into an international celebration, highlighting the pressing issue of declining pollinator populations; and
WHEREAS, people all over the world take National Pollinators Week to celebrate the valuable ecosystem services provided by butterflies, bats, bees, beetles, birds, moths, wasps, and flies; and
WHEREAS, healthy pollinator populations play a vital role in producing more than one hundred and fifty crops grown in the United States, and honey bee pollination alone adds more than $18 billion in value to agricultural crops annually; and
WHEREAS, humans around the world depend upon pollinators, given that almost 80% of the world’s crops require pollination; and
WHEREAS, pollinator species are critical to our agricultural system as well as the prosperity of our farming communities, and the continued wellbeing of our national forests and grasslands, which provide fish, wildlife, timber, water, and other resources; and
WHEREAS, declining pollinator health is driven by multiple factors including pests, pesticides, climate stress, and poor nutrition; and
WHEREAS, National Pollinators Week is an opportunity to call attention to the critical role of pollinators, via virtual and in-person gatherings, planting sessions, and garden walks happening across the planet, by people who have pledged to continue promoting pollinator health; and
WHEREAS, the MWRD has partnered with the Illinois Monarch Project, which encourages the public to address conservation and engage public and private landowners to protect the butterflies from becoming extinct. Since our Board of Commissioners passed the resolution to support monarchs in February 2020, we have distributed over 15,000 complimentary milkweed seed packets to Cook County area residents; and
WHEREAS, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (District) recognizes pollinators as vital partners to our nation’s food system, economy, and ecosystem; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, on behalf of ourselves and our staff, do hereby recognize National Pollinators Week; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Resolution be spread upon the permanent Record of Proceedings of the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Dated: June 15, 2023