Austin is now a bee friendly city.

On Monday, March 20, the Austin City Council unanimously passed Resolution 15393, which prohibits the use of systemic pesticides lethal to bees and other pollinating insects.

Austin City Administrator Craig Clark stated in a press release that the resolution was passed to recognize “the importance bees and other pollinators play in our food production.”

The resolution drew support from the Sustainability Taskforce and the Austin Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department.

“It’s something we’ve been working on for awhile,” said Steve Kime of the Sustainability Taskforce. “We wanted to make sure the language was correct and consistent with similar resolutions.”

The Austin Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department helped review the drafts.

“It’s important for the general public and officials to be aware of how significant it is to protect pollinators,” said Council Member-At-Large Janet Anderson, who chairs the Sustainability Taskforce.

Anderson said Gov. Mark Dayton’s 2016 executive order to reverse the decline of pollinators was used as the basis for the resolution.

“It has been well researched and backed-up by science that the decline of pollinators has a serious impact,” she said.

Thirty-five percent of global food production is dependent on insect pollination, including 90 commercially grown crops in North America.

Bees across the country lose on average one-fourth to one-third of their hives each winter.

The city has resolved to use plants and trees that have not been exposed to pesticides harmful to pollinators.

Pollinator friendly places around Austin will be doing their part to help. The Jay C. Hormel Nature Center is installing two beehives for educational purposes. The Austin Parks, Recreations and Forestry Department is working to establish rain gardens to plant pollinator plants.

“These are places for migrating pollinators, such as monarch butterflies, to stop,” said Austin Parks, Recreation and Forestry director Kim Underwood.

Information will be available on the city website that will help city property owners be mindful of protecting pollinators.

“It’s a good thing that will go a long way in protecting our environment and the pollinators vital to our food supply,” said Kime.

Austin joins 14 other cities in Minnesota that have adopted similar resolutions.