At a medium security prison in central Wisconsin, incarcerated individuals are helping monarch butterflies through a new program supported by NRF. In return, the monarchs are giving the inmates a renewed sense of meaning.
Monarch on purple flowers. Photo by Robert Haase
Redgranite’s butterfly lady
There are a lot more monarchs flying around one of Wisconsin’s prisons these days.
Redgranite Correctional Institution is located between Oshkosh and Stevens Point. It houses approximately 1,000 men who’ve been convicted of a broad range of crimes, from drunk driving to murder. Some have years left on their sentences, and some are serving life.
The facility offers a variety of education programs and courses for the people in their care so that the inmates can make good use of their time. Officially, Carrie Jahnke’s title at Redgranite is Recreation Leader, so it’s her job to provide these enrichment programs.
Unofficially though, she’s the “Butterfly Lady.”
Monarch-rearing enclosure at Redgranite Correctional Institution. Photo by Carrie Jahnke
How monarchs landed at Redgranite
In 2025, Jahnke started a new program for inmates at Redgranite to contribute to monarch conservation. This unique program empowers incarcerated people—an often-overlooked population in environmental efforts—to help protect the declining monarch butterfly.
“I was looking for activities for our older and less active population. I heard about raising monarchs and planting pollinator gardens, and I figured if they could do it in schools, we could do it too,” said Jahnke.
Inmates who were interested in the new program wrote a brief summary of why they wanted to participate. Of the many who applied, 12 participants were selected, and Jahnke set up a small larva-rearing area in a spare room.*
Soon after, the monarch larvae arrived. The inmates put them in their enclosures and began feeding them, cleaning up after them, and keeping them safe as they developed. Caring for the larvae was just one part of a thoughtfully designed five-day-a-week curriculum blending environmental education with hands-on experience. Additionally, the inmates cultivated native milkweed and other pollinator-friendly plants, watched educational videos, read conservation materials, and participated in classroom discussions.
The participants were able to watch every stage of the hatching and development process with magnifying glasses. “It was cool to see these big guys crowded around to look, fascinated by the cute little caterpillars,” added Jahnke. “They were very protective of them.”
My favorite activities were raising the caterpillars and watching how fast they grow. I was excited from day one to learn about the monarch life cycle.
Pollinator garden beds inside monarch enclosure. Photo by Carrie Jahnke
Transforming garden beds into pollinator habitat
The new program was dubbed “Refuge for Growth, Change and Inspiration”—named purposefully by the participating inmates to have the same acronym as Redgranite Correctional Institution.
One early challenge was the question of how to feed the hatching caterpillars. There were lots of flower gardens on the prison’s grounds, but they didn’t include many native plants. Jahnke made a plan with the lead gardener, an inmate with both a green thumb and a talent for painting (he later created a mural celebrating monarchs inside the prison). After researching which plants could help the monarchs thrive, they netted a “monarch area” in an existing garden and started planting nectar plants and milkweed.
They also began protecting food sources for monarchs that were already growing naturally on the prison grounds. Previously, wild milkweed was always weed-whacked. “We had to put up signs telling everyone to leave the milkweed alone,” Jahnke explained.
When the first group of monarchs was released, it was a transformative experience.
When the butterflies were in the enclosure, just prior to release, there were so many in one area that I could even hear the wings flapping.
Monarch caterpillars feeding on a milkweed plant. Photo by Carrie Jahnke
Prison-wide support for the monarchs
The original plan was to raise and release one set of monarchs. However, it was so popular that Jahnke and the participating inmates decided to continue raising more monarchs and attempt to expand the pollinator plantings. “I learned about the three generations of monarchs each year. And after we netted our initial monarch garden area, we couldn’t believe how many eggs the monarchs were laying there.”
With more eggs, larva and butterflies, they needed even more monarch food.
“We couldn’t believe how much they ate! The other employees at the prison and I started bringing in milkweed to feed the monarchs. On some of my lunch breaks I would go walking near the facility to collect milkweed for the butterflies,” said Jahnke.
Throughout Redgranite, the staff and inmates became deeply invested in the program, supporting it not just logistically but emotionally.
“It blew up. Everyone was willing to help,” she added. “Guys who weren’t even participating in the program would say to me ‘Ms. Jahnke, I saw 15 monarchs today!’ There was a lot of excitement.”
By the third generation that the participants had reared, tagging was added to the program so that the inmates could contribute to the scientific monitoring of monarch populations through Project Monarch Watch. They were able to tag 29 of the monarchs they released in that generation.
Monarch butterflies hanging from the ceiling of a monarch-rearing enclosure at Redgranite. Photo by Carrie Jahnke
Building the “monarch mansion”
The project has required some interesting trial and error. “While we were waiting for the first hatching, there were some wild monarchs we’d try to catch in hopes that they’d lay eggs on our milkweed. But, we weren’t successful in that. You have a bunch of grown men out there with butterfly nets, and a bunch of others watching from afar — it was kind of comical!”
Jahnke’s plan going forward is to strengthen the program and create more habitat on the prison grounds for monarchs and other pollinators. NRF contributed a grant from the C.D. Besadny Conservation Fund to help purchase soil, seeds, and building supplies for a new protected shed for monarch rearing.
“I call the new building the ‘Monarch Mansion’. The funds from NRF helped us build a safer place for the participants to maneuver around as they care for the butterflies” said Jahnke. “Most of them are older, and some have mobility challenges.”
The “Monarch Mansion” has three protected pollinator planting areas inside it. There are several more just outside its door to give the monarchs an easy first meal as they exit. In 2026, two large new garden beds were planted to help the monarchs fuel up as they get on their way.
Monarch caterpillar on milkweed. Photo by Warren Lynn
Monarchs and inmates: a symbiotic relationship
Because of the popularity of the Redgranite’s monarch program, NRF and its network of partners in the Wisconsin Monarch Collaborative are pursuing additional opportunities to bring this educational program to other prisons in Wisconsin.
The inmates themselves often tell Jahnke that they are honored to help the monarchs. Participants gain not only ecological knowledge but also a renewed sense of meaning and connection. As Inmate P.J. shared, “It has given me something to make me feel like I have a purpose here, greatly improving my mental health.” Others, like Inmate A.D., expressed how the project allowed them to “give back something beautiful in a world where I brought ugliness.”
Many are planning to continue helping monarchs when they are released. Others have encouraged friends and family back home to plant native plants to help monarchs survive.
“They’re proud to be a part of something larger,” says Jahnke.
In the inmates’ own words
“I had no idea how important butterflies were as pollinators. I am going to make sure I plant lots of flowers and milkweed on my property to help ensure that bees and butterflies have a good place.” —Inmate C.D.
“I’ve been amazed at how much natural habitat has been lost since I was born in 1970…I find it extremely rewarding how our program can have a positive benefit beyond our prison, and I’m proud to tell others I’ve played a small role in it.” —Inmate S.S.
“I was able to share the experience with my parents, who are now planting to help monarchs and other pollinators in their yard.” —Inmate J.K.
Male monarch butterfly on purple coneflower. Photo courtesy of USFWS Midwest Region
40 Years of Conservation
This year marks the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin’s 40th Anniversary! Our C.D. Besadny Conservation Fund, which supported this project, has been a key source of conservation funding since NRF’s early days. The fund was created by one of NRF’s cofounders back in 1990 to invest in conservation and education projects that benefit Wisconsin’s lands, waters, and wildlife and connect people to Wisconsin’s outdoors.
Thank you to every creative, impactful person in Wisconsin doing their part to help monarchs and other pollinators, with a special thank you to the Lux Foundation for their recent support of the Wisconsin Monarch Collaborative. And thank you to all of NRF’s members for helping support projects across the state that help monarchs and other pollinators.
*Footnote: Monarch rearing is a great conservation education opportunity, but monarch experts often discourage raising monarchs on a large scale. People who want to help monarchs are encouraged to focus their energy on improving conditions for wild monarchs, such as by planting native milkweed. According to the Xerces Society, “Arguably, the problem may not be that we have too few monarchs, but rather that the monarchs that are still wild don’t have enough of what they need. They don’t have enough breeding habitat (milkweed and nectar plants); they don’t have enough areas safe from pesticides; they don’t have enough intact overwintering habitat; they don’t have enough protection from severe storms and drought due to climate change; etc.” See this article for more information: xerces.org/blog/keep-monarchs-wild
Written by Shelly Torkelson, director of communications