Monarch Preservation

"… I realized there's so much healing in being outside in nature, getting your hands in the dirt and doing good work."

Former Navy SEAL Matzeldelaflor founded a nonprofit, Guardian Grange, to help other veterans cope with combat-related trauma by connecting with nature. One of their current initiatives: to preserve the Western monarch butterfly population (monarchs that breed west of the Rockies), which has declined to a count of less than 2,000 in 2020 – down from millions in the ’80s, according to National Geographic. A friendly reminder: If you see a monarch butterfly on the move, know the butterfly’s annual migration south happens in early fall.