Jason E. Andersen

The photo above is of a lone monarch butterfly sitting atop a purple coneflower bloom. It’s possibly the most cliché combination of photography subjects in conservation. It’s not even a very good picture.

But, this little friend has a story.

I was working for Pheasants Forever as a wildlife biologist several years ago. It was a hot afternoon and I had been out looking at prairie plantings on several farms. Ready to call it a day, I was on my way back to the office. I stopped at the intersection of Highways 71 and 44, in the little town of Hamlin, Iowa, if you know where that is. At that stop sign, I looked out my truck window and saw this monarch, sitting in the middle of the road.

“Yo,” I called out, “what are you doing? You’re going to get run over!”

The monarch didn’t respond.

There was traffic coming behind me, so I had to drive on. However, after a series of probably illegal maneuvers, I was back to the intersection. The monarch remained, so I pulled off onto the shoulder.

“You look like you could use some help,” I offered as I approached. “It’s not very safe here.”

There was still no response, but they let me pick them up by the wings. I took that as consent.

I walked my new pal to a nearby roadside prairie planting, placing them on what I thought was a comfortable-looking flower to rest on. Before leaving, I took that picture.

In the years since, I’ve thought about that monarch a lot. Sitting in the middle of the road waiting to be run over isn’t normal behavior for a monarch. They were probably sick, injured, or otherwise on their last leg. They probably died not too long after our chance meeting. Or maybe not — I’ll never know.

The point is that I tried to help. It might not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but I feel that monarch had a better chance to live because of my actions. I have come to think of that lone monarch as a metaphor for how I view land conservation and stewardship. All the actions we take, both big and little, affect the world. Many little actions, taken as a whole, can have big impacts.

​…

I wrote that story a couple of weeks ago for a side project and it was suggested that I share it with you. ​I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus from writing otherwise and I apologize for the radio silence. I’ve been taking some time for myself due to some life changes.
That is to say that I quit my job.

​​You may recall that I left my position with Pheasants Forever this past February to take on a new challenge as a Roadside Vegetation Manager with Mills County. I’m glad I made that move because I needed something new and I feel like I did do some good there. However, after six months, I realized it wasn’t for me. It was a good job, don’t get me wrong — great pay, good benefits, and the people are super nice. But, it wasn’t fulfilling. A large portion of my life happiness is derived directly from the amount of good I can do for the natural world through my work. I wasn’t getting that, so I had to leave.

So, on to the next thing, whatever that may be. I guess that means your bonus fun fact for this week is that I am happily unemployed. In the meanwhile, I intend to work on a bunch of projects that I had been putting off. I want to get back to helping monarchs, as it were, and I’m really looking forward to it.