Whitewater Rafting for Monarch Butterflies

Lodore Canyon is not a name known to many, tucked into the northwestern corner of Colorado and northeast Utah. One of few places where grey wolves roam and the canyon walls disappear into a moonless night. You don't end up here by chance, but if you do, you'll be in for a trip. Rafting Lodore Canyon is done as part of a multi-day trip, 3-4 days on the Green River passing through Dinosaur National Monument (DNM). Spanning 45 miles until the Split Mountain takeout, you'll be faced with numerous rapids from, some named by the John Wesley Powell expedition of 1869, "Hell's Half Mile" to "Disaster Falls," both rapids that have claimed many boats and lives. Yet, going through these rapids and the various canyons and mountain formations, you can't be anything but amazed by the skyscraping spires of red rock shaped by the river thousands of feet below it and the geologic processes of time that humans can't comprehend.

Setting off from Dinosaur, Colorado, we had embarked on a two-hour drive to the Gates of Lodore to float 45 miles for three days to Split Mountain. On a chilly Thursday afternoon, on the tail of a freak snowstorm, we unpacked our pickle green National Park Service (NPS) rafts onto the shores of the Green River. Arriving at camp for the night, we were six in total. That included two of the best boat operators' in the Dinosaur area with long and tried experience on the Green River; There were also Dinosaur National Monument staff members who have a considerable interest in Monarch research and conduct it. Unlike other National Park Service rafting trips, this one was not intended to check permits, write tickets, or even survey for sheep. Even though we did record some sheep, it's for Monarch butterflies. We searched for these mass migrators hoping that they use the river corridor for their migration. To capture as many as possible for the 2020 Peak Migration.

Friday morning temperatures had warmed up a bit and were expected to increase throughout the weekend steadily. The warming was met with relief, as we thought that this freezing weather would spoil our chances of spotting Monarchs. Once we broke down camp, we met on the Green River's sandy banks, the imposing Gates of Lodore with its high Canyon walls that dwarf the surrounding landscape. All gear must be loaded onto our two rafts; enough food, water, tools, and warm clothes for three people in a raft to survive off on a 14-foot raft. Before entering the canyon, we stop on a sandbar to discuss safety. Rafting through Lodore Canyon, Split Mountain, and Whirlpool Canyon is an unforgettable experience; that requires caution. This 45-mile section has claimed numerous boats and lives and requires experienced boat operators and swift water recovery knowledge; this was made abundantly clear by the team. With that in mind, we set sail, hoping to complete most of Lodore Canyon in a day.

Floating through Lodore Canyon is a day trip and a half unto itself, filled with the most strenuous rapids of the entire 40+ mile journey. Lodore Canyon is an area where you can lay back and gaze at the Canyon walls on every side spotting wildlife from Bighorn Sheep to Magpies and pass through adrenaline-pumping rapids that will leave you drenched and wanting more. Once, in the Green River Canyon, you have no access to the outside world, no cell phone service, and rarely does a plane pass by. This is wild country; after a bit, you adapt to this disconnection and begin to notice all the beauty around you, the vibrant golden light of evening that highlights the massive conifers, the grotto's and washes filled with human history, and those you share these experiences with. As we set camp for the night, our optimism was high. In Lodore Canyon, we saw various Monarch butterflies in their caterpillar and other larval stages, yet not adults. We had also recorded a good abundance of milkweed, but not many plants in bloom, which is necessary for Monarch survival. There were still two more days, so we weren't getting worried. We settled into our camp for the night and watched as the light show began. Part of our tasks, along with Monarch surveying, was also to check the night sky's quality. The night sky and its darkness is a resource that we are losing fast to light pollution. However, these signs of human degradation do not reach the Green River corridor. It is one of the few places where you can experience complete darkness; this night, the only light was the stars.

Who would've known that Lodore Canyon would be the last place we would've seen living Monarchs in any life stage. Even as the temperatures warmed up into the high 70's, there was no more Monarch to be seen. The trip became a treasure hunt as we spent most of our days floating through Whirlpool Canyon, Echo Park, and Split Mountain with our eyes locked onto the shore, using binoculars to capture even a glimpse of a Monarch. That didn't stop the group from enjoying the trip; we continued through several mesmerizing parts of the Green River. One of the highlights is Echo Park, where you can hike and visit numerous archeological sites, petroglyphs, and pictographs. As well as yell into the huge Steamboat rock and hear your voice echo for miles. Perhaps my favorite area was Split Mountain, where the river passes through rapids such as SOB and Schoolboy and the jagged limestone peaks of Split Mountain that give the feeling of gothic church spires. Once through Split Mountain, it is a short float down to the Split Mountain boat ramp where our journey ends.

Readjusting to life outside on the river, even if it was just three days, was difficult. A part of you never wants to leave and continue experiencing this unbreakable connection to the river, mountains, and our team that got us safely through it. Every trip to the outdoors is a bonding experience, developing our most profound connection, nature. Yet, this is when the science aspect of this survey came into view. Comparing the 2020's and 2019's Green River Survey for Monarchs, the decline is severe. Last year in 2019, a similar team captured 16 Adult Monarchs and observed them in all life stages; in 2020, we surveyed all life stages and no adults. 2020 has not been an excellent year for Monarch butterflies; they were recently denied listing as an endangered species, even though their Western populations have shown steep declines in 2020. In the Uintah Basin, where a coalition of BLM, NPS and Utah DWR staff survey multiple sites found that the decline of Adult Monarch from 2019 to 2020 was over 50%.

If you'd like to support organizations supporting research and recovery into Monarch Butterflies, please check out: Xerces Society, Southwest Monarch Study, Utah Pollinator Pursuit, Monarch Joint Venture, and your local Native Plant Society!