In an attempt to prevent the continued decline in monarch butterfly populations, the Mahoning County Soil & Water Conservation District is asking area residents to collect and donate milkweed seed pods to help spread the plant throughout the state. 

"Milkweed is required for the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. Monarchs lay their eggs exclusively on milkweed because monarch larvae and monarch caterpillars' sole food source is the milkweed leaf," said Kathleen Vrable-Bryan, district administrator at the Mahoning SWCD.

This makes the collection of milkweed seeds crucial to preventing the decline of monarch, according to Vrable-Bryan. The seed collection program will allow county officials to plant milkweed throughout Ohio, which will help the species thrive. 

To gather seed pods, MSWCD says you should pick them when they are gray or brown (and not green) and store them in a cool, dry place until you can deliver them to the SWCD office at 850 Industrial Rd. in Youngstown. Any donations are asked to be put in the bucket provided at the building's entrance. 

Pods can be dropped off between 8am and 4pm, and should be stored in a paper bag and labeled with the date they were picked and the county in which they were collected. The collection program will start on September 1st, and continue through November. 

For more information, you can contact the SWCD officer at (330) 740-7995.