On March 8, 2021, the City became an official Bee City USA! This national designation from the Xerces Society means that the City is committed to helping pollinators thrive in the City and bring awareness to urban pollinators.

By joining the Bee City USA certification, College Park became part of a network of cities that currently includes over 220 cities across the country. Interestingly, College Park was among the first cities to join the network in our State and has since acted as a resource for many other cities in our region who were interested in joining.

As a Bee City USA, the city of College Park has established a Bee City USA committee that is responsible for advising the City on improvements to policies and practices as they relate to pollinator conservation, creating and expanding pollinator friendly habitat, host pollinator friendly activities in the community and educational events, such as habitat planting or pollinator habitat restoration. Over the years, the committee has distributed hundreds of native plants, organized the No Mow April month, hosted pollinator week events, gave away seeds at City events such as College Park Day and the City Parade, and more! Along with this, College Park also regularly partners with the University of Maryland, which has also received the Bee Campus USA designation in 2023. This partnership has led to many fun events that all promote pollinator protection in our region.

As said above, the Bee City USA is a designation provided by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, an international nonprofit organization that protects the natural world through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats. They conduct research and perform conservation work. Their key program areas are: pollinator conservation, endangered species conservation and reducing pesticide use and impacts.

To know more:

- A map of all the pollinator gardens and their bee hotels in College Park, can be found here.

- If you would like to know more about the City's Bee City committee, you can find additional information here.