The Highway 13 Butterfly Coalition is working to make Missouri a fueling station for pollinators as they migrate between Canada and Mexico. The coalition began as the dream of a small group of dedicated people working to improve pollinator habitat and promote ecotourism along Missouri Highway, says University of Missouri and Lincoln University Extension urban entomologist Emily Althoff. The grassroots group began its work in 2017 when members of the Hamilton Community Alliance approached the City of Hamilton about developing a 10-acre parcel of city-owned property as a butterfly park. Many of the volunteers were retirees of nonprofit groups or governmental agencies. The dream grew to encompass a north-to-south trail along Highway 13 through western Missouri when the Department of Conservation began working with the Highway 13 Corridor Coalition. The trail would serve as an important connector for eastern monarch butterflies en route from Canada to Mexico, where they overwinter…