The Potomac Valley Audubon Society’s monthly program for April will focus on declines in Monarch butterfly populations, and on efforts to stem these declines.

The program will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Apr. 9 at the National Conservation Training Center outside Shepherdstown. It will be held in Room 105 of the Center’s Instructional East Building.

Admission will be free and everyone is welcome to attend.

The speaker will be Nicole Hamilton of the Loudoun (Va.). Wildlife Conservancy, which has been active on Monarch population issues.

Ms. Hamilton will be providing free handouts that gtive advice on helping to protect Monarchs. She will also be offering for sale cages for rearing Monarchs, books and Monarch t-shirts.

Monarch Butterflys can be found throughout North America during temperate months. They migrate twice yearly over long distances, wintering in Mexico, Cuba and some southern U.S. states.

Monarch populations have been declining sharply in recent decades. Habitat destruction in both their summer and winter ranges is generally regarded as a major cause of these declines, along with climate fluctuations.