For six years, the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC) has been known as a U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Pollinator Flagship Facility. All government agencies were directed by a Presidential Memorandum to increase and support the health of pollinator populations. Other Flagship facilities include: Federal Highway Administration’s Turner-Fairbanks Highway Research Center in McClean, VA, and the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Thanks to the Aeronautical Center’s Office of Facility Management, which takes care of the grounds on the Center, eight acres of land were set aside for growing pollinator-friendly plants that only require minimal intervention. This positively affects Operations and Maintenance costs by reducing the amount of land that needs mowing and trimming. The types of plants and wildflowers seeded on the Center are primarily native to this climate in order to minimize irrigation requirements and avoid conflicting with the MMAC water conservation efforts.

Once growing season passes, (September through October) the areas are mowed for winter. During the month of March, the soil is turned and over-seeded once again so plants will grow and provide food for pollinators that live and migrate through the area. Without pollinators, the availability of fresh produce would decline substantially, and human nutrition would likely suffer. More than one-third of crop production in the United States relies on insect pollination, but research shows that honeybees are steadily losing colonies. Bees across the country are at risk of extinction — the number of honeybee hives in the nation has decreased from 6 million in the 1940s to about 2.5 million in the present day.

Pollination is a process vital to the reproduction of many plant species where pollen is transferred between plants by means of an outside agent - a pollinator. Bumble bees, honeybees, butterflies, and even hummingbirds are among the most prevalent pollinators in the central United States. A diverse selection of flowers in our Pollinator Habitats provide pollen and nectar for helpful insects.

Although bees are the most prominent pollinators, there are many other insects that can bring pollen from one plant to another. There are also non-pollinating insects that feed upon other insects in this ecosystem, to maintain a natural balance of the insect population.