As late summer turns into early fall, central Iowa will begin seeing yearly visitors in the form of countless Monarch Butterflies making their journey south for the winter. With that in mind, Dallas County Conservation is looking for volunteers to help tag the butterflies as they pass through.

Conservation Outreach Coordinator Ken Keffer says tagging is an on-call program in September, meaning it’ll take place whenever the Monarchs appear, since they tend not to follow a set schedule for migration. “When we see the big movement of the butterflies moving south to Mexico, we’re going to call out the volunteers. It’s usually in the evenings or in the early morning on the weekends, so the butterflies are most active there. Last year, they had nine of the Monarchs that we tagged here in Dallas County show up in Mexico at the wintering range. So really kind of an incredible journey to think that this butterfly’s going to make all of that. And we need some volunteers to help us track that movement.”

Keffer adds, the tagging process is sensitive, as they don’t want to injure any of the butterflies. However, people will be on hand to show the volunteers how to properly tag, so everyone is welcome whether they’ve done it before or not. To become a volunteer, stop in or call Forest Park Museum at 515-465-3577.