Protecting the Meadow

Protecting the natural and cultural legacy of the fort.

Fort St. Joseph National Historic Site is working to protect the archaeological remains of the fort and surrounding community while enhancing a habitat for species at risk such as the monarch butterfly. The ongoing project focuses on the meadow and former fur trade community that surrounded the historic fort.

This meadow landscape provides essential habitat for monarchs at the northern edge of their range, with milkweed plants for monarch caterpillars, and native wildflowers for adult butterflies. Of course, a healthy meadow habitat is good news for many pollinators, as well as adding to the diverse habitats for birds and other wildlife.

Preserving the landscape as a meadow also helps preserve the foundations of the buildings that surrounded the fort. The root systems of trees can damage the archaeological ruins, while forest growth would obscure historic sight lines. By protecting Fort St. Joseph’s natural legacy we’re also protecting its cultural legacy.

So far, this work has entailed off-season cutting of some saplings and shrubs near known foundations, as well as seeding large areas with native wildflower seeds. The blend of seeds was specifically chosen by the Parks Canada conservation team to compliment the native wildflowers that are already established around the fort.

One of the goals of supporting a healthy meadow is to support species at risk, such as the monarch. During summer, site staff conduct regular surveys of the meadow looking for monarch eggs, caterpillars, chrysalides and adult butterflies, in order to enhance knowledge of how monarchs use this location. Visitors to the fort will also have a chance to contribute to the data collection through citizen science programs such as Mission Monarch andiNaturalist.  Contributions of all nature observations to these databases are essential tools for Parks Canada ecologists to monitor the many different species’ use of the site and to help conservation efforts. 

Consider helping with data collection by becoming a citizen scientist! Talk to a staff member to find out how.