Jericho Pollinator Petition

Seeking review and signatures of support from Jericho VT residents: 

A Petition to the Jericho Selectboard to commit to specific proposals for the improvement of town-owned habitat in order to support pollinator and other beneficial insects, and people too.

Pollinators and other beneficial insects including VT and NE native bees and butterflies are facing threats due to habitat fragmentation, degradation, and loss.  Lack of native habitat/vegetation for food and nesting sites threatens their viability.

Threats to pollinators become threats to our food supply.

Pruinose Squash bees (Peponias pruinosa)
pollinating our squash plants.

The proposed resolution addresses town land management practices, increasing pollinator-friendly flora, habitat restoration, and giving preference to native species, to better support a healthy ecosystem and to protect the biodiversity in Jericho, Vermont. 

Please view the full Petitioner's Article Description, and the proposed Articles of Resolution (click on link) which explains the nature of the problem, why it needs to be addressed, and a specific call to action to address the issue. 

If you support the petition, please send your name and address to Bernie Paquette (or choose the comment button on this post) to have your name added to the petition. Optionally, please consider adding a comment on why you feel this is an important action for the town to take.

The collection of signatures (digital or hard copy) will follow this statement - "We the citizens of Jericho request the Select Board to approve a resolution declaring the town of Jericho, Vermont is a Pollinator-Friendly community. Furthermore, we request the town take the three actions stated in the resolution to improve habitat for pollinators on town land."

If you have questions, or concerns about the petition, again, please send a note to Bernie. 

See signers of the petition and their comments below.

Petition support from Bernie Paquette, Browns Trace, Jericho Vt

I think it is critical that we raise awareness of the importance of insects and the steps that we can easily do to lower the impact we are having on them here locally. If we do not mend the harm we have done to pollinator habitat, I fear that, as Kipling said, (in Without Benefit of Clergy), Nature [will] begin to audit her accounts with a red pencil. 

Pollinators and biodiversity are appearing more and more on folk's radar, perhaps just in time as we recognize the incredible value we receive from nature and begin to respond in kind.

I view this proposal not as prescriptive but as a pragmatic town goal of improving Jericho pollinator habitat to help reduce biodiversity loss. Then working together to define policies and processes to get it done. Advocacy and community engagement must recognize the economic and intrinsic values from pollinators and the risk of doing nothing to restore habitat loss, and that collective effort can make a difference; the engagement must bring us all in to figure out the how-tos. 

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Petition support from Adelaide Dumm, Browns Trace, Jericho VT 

I wholeheartedly support the Jericho Vt pollinator-friendly petition. The mutual flourishing of native pollinator species is vital for the ecological integrity of our community.

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Petition support from Katherine Lineberger, Browns Trace Road, Jericho VT

Please add my name to this petition. We are new residents of Jericho.  We are letting parts of our 3-acre lot to grow wild and plan to increase diversity by planting Vermont natives. If adopted, this article will also benefit farmers and gardeners in Jericho. 

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Petition support from Mandy Applin, Foothills Drive, Jericho VT

I recently moved into a home with large landscaping beds that were overgrown with weeds. These areas in need of cleanup and replanting provided an opportunity to cultivate native pollinator gardens. The choice for native plants was easy – they are low-maintenance, beautiful, promote biodiversity, and thrive in Vermont’s climate. I’m thrilled to support Jericho’s pollinator-friendly resolution. Each patch of native plant habitat becomes part of the collective effort to nurture the living landscape for insect pollinators, birds, and other wildlife, and it is a very worthwhile effort to add a patch of native garden to the quilt of Vermont’s pollinator-friendly landscape. 

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Petition support from Dan Treinis, Skyview Drive, Jericho VT

Bernie, it is my pleasure to sign your petition. Besides the inherent right to exist for their own ends, pollinators are a vital part of human existence. I like food and flowers - many depend on pollinators to make it to my plate or eyes. In an effort to keep Jericho's fields, forests, waterways, and open spaces healthy, I fully support Bernie Paquette's petition to have the town of Jericho adopt a Pollinator Action Plan. Thank you, Bernie, for your Earth activism and focus on our lovely hometown of Jericho, Vermont.

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Petition support from Bob Weber, Jeri Hill Lane,  Jericho VT

Pollinators make food grow, contribute to the proliferation of species that are essential to life, and without them life on earth as we know it could not exist. They are an integral part of the web of life; removing them would disrupt severely the food chain.

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Petition support from Mick Dutcher, Browns Trace,  Jericho VT

I support the Jericho, Vermont pollinator-friendly petition. Where possible, the town gardeners should plant to attract and sustain pollinators. Of all the issues you read and hear about that could disturb your peace of mind, this is one that needs our immediate attention. The fruits and vegetables we rely on don't come from supermarkets; they come from plants. No bees = no plants = no food for you and me. The combination of climate change and the use of neonicotinoid insecticides is contributing to the extinction of many species of pollinators. The bees will only survive where they can. Let's help Jericho common lands become a haven for pollinators! 

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Petition support from Julia Blake, Leary rd., Jericho VT

 I do support the petition so you can add my name. I admit though that I don't follow all the recommendations yet. But I support the idea and am aware of how important pollinators are! 

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Petition support from Louanne Nielsen, Starbird Drive, Jericho, VT

Please add my name to this petition. My yard is small but I'm going to redesign it (with someone's help, I hope) so it attracts more pollinators. As nature benefits, so do humans. 

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Petition support from June Shulte, Packard Rd Jericho VT

Hello Neighbours,

I wholeheartedly support this petition, and the need to make Jericho more pollinator-friendly.  In the 40 years we have lived in Jericho, 36 of those years on Packard Road, we have witnessed more and more housing being built on all sides of our land, and great losses of habitat, disrupting many mammals as well as birds and insects.  Last year, during Covid, we turned our crabgrass front lawn into a pollinator garden, and are finally seeing a return of the honey bees. Let's come together as a town to befriend the natural world.  After all, this is Vermont.  I especially favor seeding our roadsides to benefit insects and wildlife and creating and protecting open spaces. Our lives depend on pollinators.   June M. Schulte

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Petition support from Peter Boiney, 10 Skyview Drive, Jericho VT

I support this petition. I'm allowing portions of my one acre to go wild and am moving toward less lawn, more "stuff". I hope it does some good. 

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Quote by Bernie

We think of ourselves as smarter than the average bear, yet sometimes we fail to take even the simplest of actions to help keep the earth habitable. Let's be smarter or at least as smart as the average bear! Take whatever actions you can to help save our home - Jericho, and Earth. 

Bernie Paquette

Observing life in nature.

Connecting Vermont's historic habitat and wildlife, with our community.