Grand Prairie Friends n • o • t · e •s August 1994 It pays to register early for fall prairie conference Speakers are fine-tuning their talks, and conference planners are scurrying to make final arrangements for the Fourth Central Illinois Prairie Conference on Sept. 17 and 18 at Millikin University in Decatur. The theme this year is "Prairie Remnants: Rekindling Our Natural Heritage." Opening keynote speaker is Fran Harty, regional administrator, Illinois Department of Conservation Division of Natural Heritage. Mark Schwartz, ecologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, will close the meeting with a talk on the role of small prairie preserves in Illinois. Special guest speakers include John Schwegman, Bill McClain, Roger Anderson, Ron Westemeier, Jim Herkert, Ken Robertson, Mary Kay Solecki and Ron Panzer. Their talks will cover a wide variety of topics, including management The GPF annual fall membership meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30. It will be held in the Wisegarver Room at the Illinois Disciples Foundation, at the comer of Springfield and Wright streets in Champaign. We will begin with a brief business meeting to elect new members to the GPF Board of Directors ( see nominee profiles practices, educational opportunities, flora and fauna of Illinois prairies, ecological changes, and the history of the Grand Prairie. There will be sponsor displays as well as commercial exhibits to visit between presentations. Traditional folk music will be provided during the lunch hour by "Skiffles," a local musical troupe that performs in period dress. Saturday evening will conclude with a dinner at the Rock Springs Center ($10 per person) followed by a special presentation of prairie readings provided by the Macon County Conservation District called "This Land: Illinois." Guided field trips will be conducted Sept 18 to five different prairie areas near Decatur. Maps to each site will be provided, and field trips will conclude around noon. Decatur, Illinois tcmhcr 17-18, 1994 on page 2). The highlight of the evening will be a presentation about insects of the prairie by Jim Stemburg, University of Illinois professor emeritus of entomology. The event will conclude with a dessert potluck (bring a dessert to share; beverages will be provided). GPF members, non-members and their families are welcome to join us for the evening! If you have not sent In your registration form as yet, please do so as soon as possible. Current and newly registering members of GPF are eligible for a $5 discount off the $25 registration fee, which Includes lunch. A proceedings will be published, and copies can be ordered for $7.50 on your registration form. Hotel accommodations, a conference program, a lunch ticket, parking Information and area maps wlll be sent with your registration confirmation letter. The registration deadline Is Sept. &; late or walk-In registration Is $5 extra, and lunch wlll be on your own. As you can see, there are plenty of reasons to get your registration form In early! Mall registration to Prairie Conference, Macon County Conseivatlon District, 1495 Brozlo Lane, Decatur, Ill. 62521-9464. Make checks payable to GPF. Conference volunteers needed We need volunteers to help at the GPF display and registation, and to serve as session chairs at the Fourth Central Illinois Prairie Conference. If you are planning to attend, please consider helping. Registration will be from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Saturday. GPF will sell T-shirts, hats and tote bags at its booth during the conference. Session chairs will introduce speakers and keep the sessions running on schedule. If you would like to volunteer, contact Ruth Green at 333-7091, as soon as possible. See you in Decatur! Ballot for GPF Board of Directors The Nominating Commillee will present four candidates for the open positions on the GPF Board of Directors at the Sept. 30 meeting. If you are unable to attend the meeting, please mail this ballot to GPF, P.O. Box 36, Urbana, 61801, by Sept. 30. D Sophia Gehlhausen D Joyce Hofmann D Larry LaPre D Allen Plocher write-in candidate
2 August 1994 ❖ GPF notes GPF to fill four positions on board of directors At the aMual m11eting Sept. 30, the Nominating Committee will present candidates for four posiJions on the GPF Board of Directors. Nominations from the audience also will be accepted, with the consent oft he nominee. Please be prepared to vote for those persons who will help guide the organization through the next term. The persons selected by the Nominating CommiJtee: LarryLaPre Larry LaPre received his Ph.D. in biology from the University of California at Riverside in 1979. After a two-year postdoctoral fellowship conducting agricultural research, he founded a biological consulting business in California, specializing in endangered species research and ecological restoration. In 1991, Larry retired and moved to Urbana His major interests are birds and restoration, particularly seed-collecting. He has served on the GPF Board for the past two years, first as vice president, then as chair of the Stewardship Committee. His primary GPF interests are in seed collection for restoration projects and growing prairie plants for the plant sale, garden and for restoration. Sophia Gehlhausen Sophia is a graduate student in plant biology at the University of Illinois, studying the effects of forest edges on plant composition. Her interest in plants and especially prairies has a long history, as she has spent her whole life in the Midwest, most of it in Illinois. Through her work as a botanist at the Illinois Natural History Survey as well as through volunteer projects with GPF, she has become familiar with the prairie ecosystem and would like to use that knowledge to contribute to GPF. Joyce Hofmann Joyce was president of GPF during 1992-93 and has been the steward at Bonnie's Prairie since its acquisition by GPF in 1992. She is an associate research scientist at the Illinois Natural History Survey where her work involves surveys for endangered and threatened mammals throughout Illinois. Previously, she taught at California State University, Fresno, and Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and was a research associate at the University of Illinois. Joyce has lived in Urbana for 14 years. Paxton Railroad Prairie threatened, then saved Travelers along U.S. 45 near Paxton may have noticed the road construction work that began in mid June. Certainly GPF steward Doug Shaw noticed, especially when he saw that sections of steel pipe had been laid on the prairie within the area that GPF maintains as a garden lease with the Illinois Central Railroad. Inquiries soon revealed that the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOn was improving the drainage by digging a new ditch and widening the shoulder adjacent to the high-quality prairie. IDOT right-of-way. Scott discussed the situation with the environmental coordinators at IDOT, and arranged for a meeting on site with the construction crew to see if an alternate plan could be devised. After the IDOT District headquarters staff became involved, negotiations towards preserving the prairie became surprisingly easy. IDOT engineers took a new look at their plans, and devised a way to minimize encroachment on the prairie. This pullback of the new ditch eliminated the need to move the pipeline, and the gas company picked up their pipe and abandoned the relocation project, presumably saving thousands of dollars. Further discussions led to a greater pullback of the ditch, meaning that none of the prairie Allen l>lo,::her Allen came to Illinois from Nqrfolk, Va., where he was born and reared: For the past 15 years, he has been working in forest management and plant ecology in the mountains of Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland and in the coastal plain of Virginia and North Carolina. Allen received an associate degree in forest management from Lancaster Community College in Clifton Forge, Va; a bachelor's in biology from Old Dominion University in Norfolk; a master's in forest ecology from West Virginia University, Morgantown; and a doctorate in ecological science from Old Dominion University in 1993. For the past five years most of his work (other than doctoral research) has been conducting wetland delineations and rare-plant surveys in southeast Virginia. Allen's interests are in plant community ecology and plant population biology in forests, particularly in shrub communities and in response to disturbances such as fire. He also likes to play blues, and rhythm and blues music. would have to be removed. An orange construction fence was installed at the edge of the prairie, insuring that the construction crew would stay away from the sensitive area. The alertness and abilities of the steward of this site are responsible for its preservation under difficult circumstances. By presenting the IDOT engineers and planners with the values of the prairie and facts about its its rarity, we were able to convince them to eliminate the damaging effects of their project. Thank you to the understanding people at IDOT, Northern Illinois Gas Company, but especially to Scott Simon, Doug Shaw, and Larry LaPre, who persisted until the right solution was implemented. The ditch construction meant that a portion of the pipeline of the Northern Illinois Gas Company had to be moved. Moving the pipeline meant that a 12-foot strip of choice prairie would be destroyed. The situation was dismal at the time of discovery, especially when viewing the 200-foot path of trampling that had been created by the unloading of the new pipe. A newly placed GPF sign explaining the value of the prairie had been knocked down by the pipe unloading. Plant sales raise money, interest in prairies Doug enlisted the aid of Scott Simon, a :>otanist with the Illinois Natural History '::urvey, which had surveyed the site three • ears ago and made recommendations for 1reserving the prairie strip within the GPF sold native perennial forbs and grasses in conjunction with the annual Herb Society plant sale at the Urbana Free Library on May 14. Sales hit an all time high of $600. GPF also sold plants at the Urbana Farmer's Market during June. In total, we sold about $1,300 in plants, including $ 100 worth of plants sold to Illinois Power for its prairie site at Clinton Lake. A big thanks to all GPF members who assisted in the transplanting, labeling, transporting and selling of the plants. We deeply appreciate people giving their time on a Saturday morning to support GPF in this way. We hope all of you enjoy the plants for years to come!
Middle Fork Forest Preserve Prairie, savanna and wetland reconstruction Since 1990, GPF has been engaged in an wetland. This was done in 1990, and ecological reconstruction project with the positive results were almost immediate. Champaign County Forest Preserve District Water now stands in the marsh almost all at the Middle Fork Forest Preserve near year, and wetland plants and animals are Penfield. Chosen for this project was a 40- returning. Planting of portions of the acre site containing a kettle marsh, refer- upland sites began in 1991. Seed was ring to the formation of a natural depres- broadcast and rootstocks were planted on sion by glacial drift It also incorporates the old homesite, and these treatments were several widely spaced oak and hickory repeated in the following three years. In trees, which actually may have been a 1992, the hill at the west edge was similarly savanna landscape in presettlement times. planted. Leftover plants from the GPF sale On the north lies the floodplain forest of also were established in 1993. These sites the Middle Fork River; to the south and were weeded of thistle in 1993. west are agricultural fields in conservation In 1994, about 1.5 acres connecting the tillage, and on the east is a maintenance homesite and the hill were burned, treated area of the Forest Preserve where the with herbicide, and planted with a Truax Historic Farm Days festival is held every seed drill, in cooperation with the Departsummer. Across the road is the Levi Wood ment of Conservation, the Forest Preserve house, an historic structure awaiting District and GPF. Seeds purchased from renovation. A small part of the reconstruc- Peter Schramm, a guru of restoration efforts tion site once contained a homestead, now in Illinois, were planted with the seed drill, recognizable only by bricks and some along with seeds collected by GPF voluninteresting hand-hewn logs. teers from nearby remnant prairies in 1993. This project is termed a reconstruction Fourteen hundred rootstocks obtained from rather than a restoration because the site the Mason State Tree Nursery were planted was a field of brush, trees and exotic as well. grasses five years ago. The wetland was Work days to expand the prairie dry and had been used as pasture. However, plantings are continuing, and activities certain key elements of the native land- consist of removing brush and small trees at scape remained, including the natural the north end of the site, with the goal of depression of the wetland, and the large reaching the floodplain forest leading down hickory and oak trees of the savanna. to the Middle Fork River. This autumn, we The first undertaking was to locate and plan to collect more seed t0 be used for break the drainage tile underlying the further prairie expansion. Summer internship program a success We are drawing to the close of our first season with a GPF-sanctioned stewardship intern. Jamie Ellis, a senior studying ecology at the University of Illinois, has brought GPF a giant leap forward in our efforts to control woody growth at Prospect Cemetery Prairie. In addition, he has contributed significantly to teasel and clover control at Loda; established a site stewardship database for GPF; helped with restoration efforts at the Middle Fork; assisted Ruth Green in getting materials out for our fall conference; and helped to halt an intrusion onto one of our preserves by the Illinois Department of Transportation. The list of this activities goes on. Jamie has exceeded our expectations of accomplishments and has shown us how far we can proceed with specific management tasks by using our resources on an internship program. He has taken on a great deal of responsibility in just a short time, working independently during much of the summer. In completing this internship, Jamie has provided a challenge for us to continue the program next year and to find an intern who can live up to our new expectations. We are deeply indebted to Jamie for his thorough and conscientious efforts this summer and wish him well on his future endeavors. We thank the dozen or so GPF members who generously contributed to the internship program this year, along with a very special thanks to Jerry's IGA and The Nature Conservancy who became major sponsors of the progam for 1994. If you would like to see the internship program continued, please contact a board member to see how you could help out through donations or working to develop sponsorships from our local business community. Jamie is interested in natural areas management or conservation biology, and plans to attend graduate school. He hopes to continue h\s involvement with GPF as a volunteer. August 1994 ❖ GPF notes 3 The first year after planting can be discouraging because the predominant plants are often exotic and native weeds, and prairie seedlings and rootstocks are hard to find. In the second year, however, prairie plants show themselves among the weeds, and expectations rise. In the third year, as on the 1991 site, many prairie plants are well established, and the weeds are much less obvious. A walk through the hill site in July found that most of the plants were prairie natives, with many in flower. Yellow coneflower was so successful that the display was obvious from quite a distance. Also noteworthy was the growth and flowering of wild quinine planted from rootstock in the newest area this year. Since 1991, Marilyn Morris and Scott Simon have monitored vegetation in the restored wetland. Sampling has shown a diversity of wetland plants, ranging from submerged aquatics to emergents to a ring of yellow sticktights around the water's edge. This small marsh has already attracted many wading birds and waterfowl, including the pied-billed grebe, a threatened species in Illinois, which nested and fledged young in 1994. Frogs and salamanders are abundant. Special !hanks are due to Marilyn Morris and Scott Simon, the co-stewards of the reconstruction site, who have organized the work days. Other regular participants in the effort have included Larry LaPre, Lee Barnes, Mike Davison and Susan Hopkins, along with more than 40 other GPF members and friends. A majority of the GPF Board of Directors has assisted with the endeavor. Thanks also to Roger Kirkwood of the Forest Preserve District, who has provided equipment and encouragement GPF members are invited to visit this part of the Middle Fork Forest Preserve to see the results of the group's efforts. This summer and fall, yellow coneflower, blazing star, prairie dock, compass plants, wild quinine, bergemot, big bluestem, Canada wild rye, and many other native plants are and will be putting on a bright floral display. Lots of effort still lies ahead to re-create prairie at the site. Expanding the prairie reconstruction into the hayfield west of the site is a possibility for the future. This would create a prairie of about 80 acres, establishing a significant habitat for grassland birds, butterflies and other wildlife, as well as a place where one can begin to imagine the grandeur of the original Grand Prairie.
GPF Membership application New O Renewal□ Name Address ----------------------- _____________________ _ City __________ State ___ Zip ______ _ Telephone ____________________ _ Date _______________________ _ Your special expertise is needed! Student/low income $10 Individual $15 Family $20 Sustaining $35 Patron $50 Benefactor $100 Nonprofit organization $35 Corporation $100 Extra contribution $ __ _ Some members can offer services that are valued by GPF. Please indicate how you would like to help. O Plant identification O Access to a truck O Graphic arts 0 Transplanting/weeding O Access to power tools O Typesetting or general typing 0 Outdoor work O Professional advice on real estate O Computer system availability 0 Legal counsel Grand Prairie Friends of Illinois P.O. Box 36 Urbana, Ill. 61801 Inside: • Prairie Conference: Sept. 17-18 • Annual Meeting: Sept. 30 • Calendar of Events • Railroad Prairie Saved 'IVIL'lJ QW'Jl)'}{J.; Non-profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid Urbana, IL PermitNo. 168 ()1{_ ~~{•E'l{IC~N..:J'/f,'11'£9!.:PAi'W (P11rtfieni11111 i11w9if,,fiw11) 111 t111firr ,ti,9-1, a ltn Jmm tfie {eavts rt/as use,/ j,,r trtati119 a fever.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • • • • • GPF Calendar of Events • • • • All GPF work dates begin • • at 9 a.m. at the Anita Purves • Nature Center, located at • Crystal Lake Park in Urbana, unless • • otherwise noted. New members are • urged to come and see what prairie • restoration is all about. Bring • • something to drink, snacks or a • lunch. • • • Sept.17-18 • • Fourth Central Illinois Prairie • • • • Conference Millikin University, Decatur. (See page one) Sept. 24 Paxton Railroad Prairie Lots of work remains to be done at the Paxton Railroad Prairie, including brush-cutting, weed-pulling, seedcollecting and preparing for the planned fall burn. Bring gloves, loppers and rakes. Contact:Doug Shaw, 384-6939 (home) or 333-2978 (work). Sept. 30 GPF Annual Meeting Illinois Disciples Foundation, Champaign. 7 p.m. (See page one) : Oct. 1 • • Middle Fork Forest Preserve • prairie reconstruction • • We'll be preparing more areas for next • year's planting of prairie seeds and • rootstocks. Bring chain saws, loppers, • • pruners, gloves and a snack. Meet at • the Anita Purves Nature Center in • Urbana at 9 a.m. or at the site at 9:45 • • a.m. • Contact: Marilyn Morris, 333-2948 • (work) . • • • • • • • Oct. 15 Busey Woods The monthly restoration activities at Busey Woods in Urbana will resume after a summer rest. The progress in the past year has been remarkable; come and help keep up the momentum. Bring gloves, pruners and loppers to cut out invasive honeysuckle and other alien plants. Work will finish by noon. Contact: Scott Simon, 333-6560 (work). Windfall Prairie Help The Nature Conservancy collect seeds of some of the less common native species at one of our most scenic prairie reserves. A pleasant hike is included. Contact:Mike Camp, 776-2483. Oct.15-16 North American Conference on Savannas and Barrens Illinois State University, Normal. Oct.15-16 Quilt Show by Illini Country Stitchers National Guard Armory, 600 E. University Ave., Urbana. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. GPF quiltin-progress will be displayed. All proceeds benefit the Crisis Nursery. October weekends Seed Collection Fall is the time to gather seeds from prairie remnants for use in GPF's restoration projects. We plan to go every Saturday morning, weather permitting. The Champaign County Audubon Society also will collect seeds in October for the Meadowbrook Park prairie restoration, where several more acres will be added in 1995. They will be gathering seeds at the park and elsewhere. Contact: Larry LaPre (GPF), 384-6460 or Bob Vaiden (Audubon), 244-4299 (work) or 344-9042 (home) . ••••••••• Oct. 29 Paxton Railroad prairie burn (tentative) GPF is planning to conduct a fall prescribed burn of the prairie along U.S. 45 near Paxton. This work date will only take place if conditions are right. Dry vegetation and a west wind are needed (so traffic on the highway is not obstructed by smoke) . Contact:Call Doug Shaw, 384-6939 (home) or 333-2978 (work). Nov.5 Middle Fork Woods Old Picnic Grove The old picnic area in the Middle Fork Woods Nature Preserve (Vermillion County) needs some pruning. Help The Nature Conservancy volunteers try to restore it to match the rest of the woods. Meet at Anita Purves Nature Center at 9 a.m. to carpool or on site at 10 a.m. Bring loppers, pruners, saws and gloves. Contact: Jim Brewer, 446-2630. Nov. 12 Windfall Prairie (tentative) Help is needed removing cedars and other woody vegetation so the rare prairie community has space to expand as the river erodes its lower edge. Bring loppers, saws and gloves. Contact: Mike Camp, 776-2483 . Nov.19 Busey Woods See Oct. 15 . Contact: Scott Simon, 333-6560 (work). Dec.17 Busey Woods See Oct. 15. Contact: Scott Simon, 333-6560 (work) . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • GPF has joined with Illinois State nent of our Grand Prairie region prior to invited and contributed papers, along • • University and more than a dozen other settlement. In addition, the floras and with posters, exhibits, art displays, a • : organizations to sponsor a North faunas of savannas and barrens contain social hour and banquet on Oct. 15, and : • American Conference on Savannas and many typically prairie species. field trips on Oct. 16. • ! Barrens on Oct 15 and 16. The conference, to be held at Illinois Prereistration is required; contact • • Savannas were an important compo- State University in Normal, will feature Roger Anderson at (309) 438-2653. ! •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••