Increase pollinator habitat on County and private lands to 75 acres by 2025
Objective Description
Trend Analysis
Since becoming a Bee City USA affiliate in 2019, Howard County has steadily expanded pollinator-friendly habitat on both public and private property through County programs and community partnerships. Growth in registered pollinator habitat increased in recent years, surpassing 100 acres in 2023. As of 2025, Howard County has registered 144 acres of pollinator-friendly habitat across 587 individual habitat registrations on public and private property. Continued promotion of the Habitat Registration tool and ongoing partnerships are expected to support further habitat creation and registration.
Strategies
- Capitalize on mowed areas that can be converted to pollinator habitat. This will also decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
- Expand community educational resources and workshops for creating pollinator habitat.
- Obtain grant funds whenever possible to offset costs and create incentives for private landowners.
- Conduct full scale inventory of County owned land to identify priority areas
- Create and implement a program to educate developers about maximizing pollinator habitat when designing new communities.
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Source: Office of Community Sustainability