Premier of 'Butterfly Town, USA'

Butterfly Town, USA follows a community of activists living in Pacific Grove, who are working together to restore the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. The heart of this film is the story of one activist, Bob Pacelli, who is leading an effort to plant more trees in the Sanctuary to protect the butterflies from the wind. In the film we see intimate portraits of people who are planting the trees, watering them by hand, going to City Council meetings to explain their intentions and holding meetings in the Grove itself to decide how to bring attention to the problems faced by this community. Disagreements about how to best take care of this beautiful sanctuary are relevant to a global debate as citizens worldwide unite to fight habitat loss due to climate change, deforestation and pesticides. With a focus on butterfly habitat fragility in this community, we see that change happens - one person, one community at a time. Well-known butterfly ecologist Lincoln Brower adds his perspective throughout the film, as the citizens of Pacific Grove show courage, compassion and determination with their commitment.

Alarming figures show Monarch Butterfly numbers have declined by 90% in the last two decades. See the Xerces Society's 2014 report (http://www.xerces.org/2014/12/29/monarch-butterfly-moves-toward-endangered-species-act-protection/).

Recently, a Petition (http://www.xerces.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/monarch-esa-petition.pdf), which is supported by a number of environmental groups and respected scientists, has been filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requesting protection for the Monarch under the Endangered Species Act. This film documents what one group of citizens in one community can do, when they organize, to have an impact.

Light dinner at 6:15, film and presentation at 7:00.

RSVP to concentricApr2@concentric.orgor LomaPrietaApr2@concentric.org