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42 ELECTRIC PERSPECTIVES | www.electricperspectives.com “ By working with rights-of-way landowners and other stakeholders, utility companies are providing a lifeline to pollinators by managing habitat in the thousands of miles of transmission and distribution line corridors. ” E lectricity is the driving force of our modern world. It pow- ers commerce and industry, enables critical advances in science and health care, and contributes to the comfort and convenience of everyday living. Today, however, one of the fundamental building blocks of life—plant pollination— is in jeopardy, and the utility indus- try is uniquely qualified to do some- thing about this important issue. Seventy percent of native vege- tation and 30 percent of our food crops depend on insect pollina- tors for reproduction, but insect pollinators are struggling. In fact, beekeepers reported losing about 40 percent of honeybee colonies in 2014, threatening the viability of their livelihoods and the essential pollination services their bees provide to agriculture. While honeybees and wild bees are the high-profile workhorses of plant pollination, the public is equally concerned about another pollinator—the iconic monarch butterfly. In particular, the eastern North American monarch popula- tion has declined dramatically— more than 90 percent since the 1980s—primarily because of loss of habitat for breeding, migrat- ing, and overwintering. (See the sidebar, “Monarch Migration.”) Milkweed plays an essential role as the exclusive egg-laying site for adult butterflies and food source for monarch caterpillars. But modern agricultural practices have all but eliminated milk- weed from farms and pastures. In addition, an estimated 29.5 million acres of grasslands in the Midwest have been converted to crops since 1996. Herbicide appli- cation, roadside mowing, and urban development have further reduced the presence of milkweed. By working with rights-of-way landowners and other stakeholders, Neil Palmer is a consultant working with the Sand County Foundation (SCF) to facilitate the participation of electric generation, transmission, and distribution companies in the SCF pollinator conservation program. He has 40 years of experience working for and with energy companies on facility siting, permitting, construction, and operations. environmental stewardship Utilities Take Action on Habitat Restoration By NEIL PALMER utility companies are providing a lifeline to pollinators by man- aging habitat in the thousands of miles of transmission and distribution line corridors. Private and Public Partnerships The White House Pollinator Health Task Force issued an action plan in May 2015 calling for private and public partnerships to increase and improve pollinator habi- tat. Federal agencies also are required to consider pollinator habitats when conducting their regulatory responsibilities. The decline of the butterfly has been so precipitous that groups have petitioned the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) for protection of the monarch butter- fly under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The possibility of an ESA listing, which could have significant impacts on vegetation management and agricultural practices, adds urgency to the push for private conservation efforts. With review of the petition underway, USFWS recently funded on-the-ground conservation proj- ects to restore monarch habitat. In September, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation made the first round of grants totaling $3.3 million from its Monarch Butterfly Conservation Fund, which USFWS seeded with $1.2 million. The 22 grants, which will