Pollinators

Pollinators face multiple threats including the loss of habitat, diseases and parasites, climate change, and pesticides. Because these threats do not act in isolation, but interact with each other and intensify their negative effects on pollinators, a coordinated and multidisciplinary approach is necessary to protect them.

In 2019, Governor Tim Walz issued Executive Order 19-28 recognizing pollinators as important to Minnesota's economy, ecology, and way of life and directing state agencies to restore pollinator health in Minnesota. This order builds upon his predecessor's executive order, and continues the EQB's role in pollinator public engagement and implementation of the Interagency Pollinator Protection Team.

The Interagency Pollinator Protection Team includes representatives from the Minnesota Departments of Administration, Agriculture, Corrections, Education, Health, Natural Resources, and Transportation; the Minnesota Board of Soil and Water Resources; the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; and the Minnesota Zoological Garden. The team provides operational support, ensures interagency cooperation, develops cross agency policies and programs, and reports annually on progress.

State agencies who are members of the Interagency Pollinator Protection Team work individually and together to support policies and programs to advance our three pollinator protection goals:

1. Lands throughout Minnesota support healthy, diverse, and abundant pollinator populations
2. Minnesotans use pesticides judiciously and only when necessary, to reduce harm to pollinators from pesticides while retaining economic strength
3. Minnesotans understand, value, and actively support pollinators

Pollinator Resources

Several state agencies that form the Interagency Pollinator Protection Team have developed resources and information to help protect pollinators.

• Department of Agriculture
  • Best management practices for pollinators and their habitat
• Board of Water and Soil Resources
  • Pollinator Toolbox
• Department of Natural Resources
  • Minnesota's Pollinators
  • Minnesota Pollinator Resources
• Pollution Control Agency
  • Pollinator friendly best management practices for stormwater management
• Minnesota Zoo
  • Plant for pollinators
  • Prairie Butterfly Conservation Program
• Department of Transportation
  • Pollinators and MnDOT
• EQB
  • Document

    Pollinator-Friendly Planting Guide

Community Science Initiatives

Minnesotans of all ages can get involved in helping pollinators. A fun way to get plugged in is by joining a pollinator-related community science initiative, and there are many to chose from, such as:

• Minnesota Bumble Bee Atlas: Partnership between UMN Extension and the Xerces Society
• Monarch Larva Monitoring Project: MonarchNet, the North American Network of monarch butterfly monitoring programs
• Bumble Bee Watch

Stay Connected

For information on the Environmental Quality Board's pollinator work, contact Rebeca Gutierrez-Moreno (rebeca.gutierrez-moreno@state.mn.us, 651-757-2268).

Click to subscribe to our Pollinator Protection email list. 

Governor's Committee on Pollinator Protection (2016 - 2018)

Under Executive Order 16-07, the Environmental Quality Board supported the Governor's Committee on Pollinator Protection, comprised of 15 appointed members of the public with experience in agriculture, conservation, education, academia, and local government. The committee, formed in 2016, advised the governor, the Environmental Quality Board, the Interagency Pollinator Protection Team, and participating agencies on pollinator policy and programs. The Governor's Committee delivered a report with 39 recommendations in November 2018 documenting a range of ideas for pollinator conservation. The committee completed its work in December 2018.