Local Conflict Over Native Plant Habitat in Novato

Native plant habitat on a traffic median on Alameda del Prado (photo: Marcia Basalla)

Almost 25 years ago, Novato took action to protect pollinators like the monarch.

In 1990, the city established the “Adopt-an-Island” program to encourage individuals and businesses to adopt a median island in order “to create a cleaner, more beautiful Novato, while also establishing habitat for pollinators,” according to the city’s website.

In 2009, Novato resident Marcia Basalla received a permit from the city to adopt a median island on Alameda del Prado, and subsequently obtained permission to adopt part of a second median island and an adjacent slope.

Showy milkweed on Basalla’s median island (photo: Marcia Basalla)

Working on a volunteer basis, Basalla planted native trees, shrubs, milkweed, and flowers, creating a thriving habitat area for plants and wildlife, including monarch butterflies. Her sites were approved annually by the Novato Fire Department.

Subsequently, the Marin County Parks and Recreation Department, with help from the Rotary Club of Ignacio and Marin Master Gardeners extended the impact of Basalla’s work by planting a large patch of milkweed and other plants in a meadow near the median islands.

The meadow adjacent to Alameda del Prado has been designated a habitat restoration area for monarchs by the Marin County Parks and Recreation Department (photo: Marcia Basalla).

But last year, Novato decided to remove a portion of Basalla’s habitat.

In November of 2023, Novato’s sustainability coordinator informed Basalla that the city’s maintenance superintendent intended to transfer the care of the second island and the adjacent slope to a homeowners group.

The reason originally provided to Basalla was that a small group of residents in the nearby Pacheco Valle found that her native plants lacked “aesthetic appeal.” Subsequent explanations shifted to concern about fire safety, even though the city’s Fire Department had given Basalla’s plantings the green light a month earlier.

The group of residents, Friends of the Pacheco Valle (FPV), asked the city to replace Basalla’s native plants with conventional landscaping plants: ice plant, society garlic, and Chinese pistache. These are all non-natives, similar to those that already occupy other median islands along the same road; these islands are cared for by a commercial landscaper hired by the FPV.

Basalla protested the action, alerting members of the environmental community as well as residents of the Pacheco Valle. The issue has provoked news coverage in the Marin IJ and on KPIX news as well as letters to the IJ representing both sides of the controversy.

As of early March, the city has softened their position somewhat, agreeing to allow some of the milkweed to remain on the second median, and some of the native plants to remain on the slope. For now, the larger of the islands remains under Basalla’s care. Basalla and her supporters hope to keep the public’s attention focused on the importance of restoring biodiversity in residential areas.

Hungry caterpillars consuming milkweed on the large median island (photo: Marcia Basalla)

Why is Access to Native Plant Habitat Essential to Monarch Survival?

It is well known that the survival of monarchs depends on having access to native milkweed as well as nectar from pollinator plants. Monarchs will not lay their eggs on any plant other than milkweed, and a monarch caterpillar subsists exclusively on milkweed leaves prior to transforming into a chrysalis.

Native milkweed is also important because, unlike some non-native species, it goes dormant in the late fall. The disappearance of milkweed triggers monarchs throughout the Western states to begin their essential migration eastward to overwintering sites along the California coast. They depend on nectar plants to fuel this westward journey as well as the eastward one in the spring, as they disperse across California and other western states.

Native milkweed used to be widespread in Marin, but much of it has been lost due to residential and agricultural development. Similarly, nectar plants are also less plentiful. Habitat loss, along with pesticides and parasites, has resulted in a drastic decline of the monarch since the 1980s.

Native plant habitats are essential to bring monarchs back from the brink of extinction (photo: Marcia Basalla)

The Argument for Supporting Native Habitats in Urban Spaces

In Marin, fear of wildfires is real and realistic. Basalla’s native habitat has been criticized by some members of the nearby community as flammable. But are native plants any more flammable than non-natives? The fact is that native plants are no more flammable than non-natives. All plants are flammable when they are dried out or dead. City governments play an important role in ensuring that adequate irrigation is available in public spaces, including traffic medians.

When it comes to aesthetics, everyone is entitled to their own view of what constitutes an attractive garden. Native plant habitats are beautiful in the eyes of many, but do look different from those based on conventional alternatives such as juniper, ice plant, or oleander.

But other values also come into play in designing a habitat, including the importance of maintaining a vibrant, diverse plant and animal community. Moreover, the aesthetic appeal of monarchs, bees, and other creatures cannot be denied. Native plant habitats in public spaces and home gardens allow residents of Marin to experience the natural world right in their own backyard.

Hummingbird visiting pollinator plants on the median island (photo: Marcia Basalla)

Do You Want to Help Restore Monarch Habitat in Marin?

Get more information: View the KPIX story which includes an interview with Basalla, footage of the medians, and an interview with a member of the homeowners group.

Express your support: Contact Gretchen Schubeck, Novato’s sustainability coordinator (gschubeck@novato.org).

Learn how to create firesafe native plant habitats: Click on these organizations to view informative articles by the UC Marin Master Gardeners, the Marin Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, and Firesafe Marin.

Join the Marin Monarch Working Group: Go to the “Who We Are Page” of the Marin Monarch Working Group website and sign up to learn how you can support the western monarch!