, Jessee Middlefork Preserve Pelleville Cemetery Pr Forest Prospect Cem. Prairie Rankin RR Prairie Shortlin~ Welles Cem. Prairie 1 mi N of Champ. Co. line near • Villa Grove; intersection of 1400E & 100N County Rd 22 N of Penfield; turn L at 3500N, go W to 1/4 mi before 2500 E, area is on N about 1 mi S of Paxton on W side of US 45 IL Rte 9 1 mi E of Rankin; take 1st . road to N, turn W just before RR Sedge of Paxton along 1st road E of US 45 along abandoned RR 1 mi E of Rankin ·begins J mi E of Gifford, 1/2 mi S - of US 136, extends for about 1 mi to E about 1 mi. Sand W of Penfield - about 1.3 acres of dry-mesic prairie if!. abandoned cemetery prairie savanna and prairie reconst. project on 30 acres 600 ft of better than average remnant mesic prairie about 1 acre of high quality mesic prairie in abandoned cemetery about 5 acres of high quality mesic prairie; Sta,te Nature Preserve about 1/2 mile of mesic & wet mesic prairie along abandoned RR about 3/4 mile of prairie remnants -along abandoned RR; GPF .owned 1/4 acre of mesic prairie in · Jim and Jean Nance; Bob Szafoni Roger Kirkwood; Eric Ulaszek & Marilyn Morris none Mike Camp and Dave Ket .zner none none J-ohn Baermann Elizabeth Hanson
/t/9/ Prairie Sites in East-central IllinoiSite Steward Middlefork Savanna M. Morris*, E. Ulaszek Restoration R. Kirkwood Welles Cemetery E. Hanson*, P. Dziuk Shortline RR J. Baermann Windfall Prairie N.P. M. Camp Fairchild Cem. N.P. Chris Vernon OwnershipCCFPD cem. boarGPF VCCD VCCD Tomlinson Cem. N.P. R. Kirkwood*, E. Hanson CCFPD Pelleville Cem. Rankin RR D. Ketzner cem. boarProspect Cem. Pr. Paxton RR Pr. Loda Cem. N. P. GPF (pending on owner- IDOC?, Gship) landowneGPF, Taft/Solecki (pend.) cemetery T. Brooks D. Berggren RR TNC * denotes contact person GPF = Grand Prairie Friends VCCD = Vermilion County Conservation District INPC = Illinois Nature Preserves Commission
/ s with GPF Stewardship Involvement p rd? Management Input CCFPD,GPF GPF, cemetery board GPF INPC, VCCD, GPF INPC, VCCD INPC, CCFPD, GPF 1991 Stewardship ActiYitie£ re-herbicide plots at green-up, plant seed in plots, plant rootstocks, continue clearing brush in grove, mark new plots bum?, weeding? bum 1/2 brush removal? brush removal?, bum? Note: acccess difficult rd? cemetery board?, GPF Bum part, clear trees? GPF? IDOC?, GPF? rs? assoc. INPC, DOC, GPF GPF,RR INPC, TNC, GPF no plans until ownership resolved sow fall-collected seed, brush removal bum complete fence, cut teasel CCFPD = Champaign County Forest Preserve District IDOC = Illinois Department of Conservation TNC = The Nature Conservancy
Paxton Railroad Prairie History Grand Prairie Friends took an interest in this small remnant prame in 1991. At that time they contacted the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad and obtained a garden lease to manage the prairie. In 1992 there was a survey conducted by the Illinois Natural History Survey along this stretch of Route 45 in anticipation of an IDOT project. It was found that roadside prairie remnants were throughout the project area between the ICG Railroad and US 45. Two locations with high quality prairie remnants were described in the survey. Notable wetlands were also found along this stretch of highway. In 1994 IDOT began their work on the storm sewer project in Paxton. Near the prairie, plans were to construct a ditch that would harm the prairie. Northern Illinois Gas Corporation would have to move their gas lines according to project specifications. Not wanting to see the prairie damaged, Scott Simon and Doug Shaw talked to the project engineers and the plans were changed to minimize damage to the prairie. The message did not get fully carried out by the site supervisor though. NIG Corp. prepared to dig and move their lines and in the process trampled a major portion of vegetation. Scott again talked to the project engineers and coordinators. After some more discussion, the message made it to the site supervisor and the new plans were finally put into effect. NIG Corp. did have to move their pipes with the change in plans, but the damage to plants was irreversible for the '94 growing season. IDOT finally put up an orange snow fence along the entire length of the prairie and right-of-way to keep equipment from damaging any more prairie vegetation.
)' ECOLOGICAL SERVICES TO: File FROM: John White DATE: June 17, 1996 904 SOUTH ANDERSON URBANA, Il..LINOIS 61801 217/367-8770 FAX: 217/344-5041 SUBJECT: Papaipema at Paxton Railroad Prairie Paxton Railroad Prairie (section 19, T23N, Rl0E, Ford County) is apparently a newly discovered locality for the Eryngium stem borer (Papaipema eryngii), a State Endangered species. This animal is known from three other sites in Illinois, one in Oklahoma, and one in Tennessee. Part of Paxton Railroad Prairie is leased from the Illinois Central Railroad by Grand Prairie Friends. We need to ensure that a telephone cable is not buried in the prairie and Papaipema habitat. On June 15 Connie Carroll, Lisa Bell, and I were at the site establishing a vegetation monitoring transect. A two-man crew from a natural gas pipeline company came by to flag the alignment of their gas line. One of the men told us that Consolidated Communications is in the process of laying a fiber-optic cable from Champaign to Chicago along the Illinois Central. We were told that the cable would normally be laid 80 feet from the center of the tracks, which would be down the length of the very middle of the prairie. We happened to meet Vern LaGesse in Paxton while taking a break from vegetation sampling, and we invited him to see the prairie. Vern is an insect specialist; he immediately pointed out that the rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) plants at the prairie are riddled by a stem-boring insect. He captured a caterpillar and identified it as Papaipema eryngii. Vern was as certain as he could be'at this time about the species identification of the caterpillar. He said that a positive and conclusive determination of the species could be made only by examining the adult form. Vern collected a few (three?) caterpillars with the intent of raising them to adulthood so that the identification could be confirmed. While he was at the Paxton Railroad Prairie, Vern also collected Papaipema silphii from compass plant (Silphium
,I ., Papaipema eryngii June 17, 1996 Page 2 laciniatum) and Papaipema beeriana from blazing star (Liatris pycnostachya) . I called Ron Panzer on the evening of June 15 to discuss the discovery. Ron said that only two Papaipema species use Eryngium with any consistency: P. eryngii, and P. silphii. He said that P. silphii will bore into Eryngium early in the season (i.e. now), but will not be in Eryngium later in the season when it prepares to metamorphose. Papaipema baptisiae is very rarely found in Eryngium. P. eryngii and P. silphii caterpillars differ in their appearance. P. eryngii has a "clear girdle"; that is, it has a dark band around its mid-section without any stripe. P. silphii has one line through its girdle. Ron said, "If the girdle is clear, it's most likely eryngii." By a process of elimination, no other species with a clear girdle can be expected to use Eryngium yuccifolium as a host plant. But Ron stressed that nobody - even the man who is writing a taxonomic monograph on Papaipema - can be certain until the insect metamorphoses into a moth. This would be September 1 at the earliest. Ron has studied about 25 of the approximately 30 species of Papaipema in the region. He probably has studied P. eryngii more than any other Papaipema species. Ron said that Vern LaGesse is as good as Ron in terms of his knowledge of Papaipema. Bottom line: Ron Panzer said that the insect at Paxton has been "tentatively identified as Papaipema eryngii." Ron said that P. eryngii is extremely fire sensitive, and he has "absolutely no doubt" that the species could be eliminated from a prairie by fire. A superficial examination of Paxton Railroad Prairie shows probably hundreds of borings in Eryngium stems in the unburned portion, and no borings in the hundreds of stems of Eryngium in the part of the prairie that was burned this spring. The gas company representative estimated that Consoliadted Communications would be laying cable at·the prairie by Thursday, June 20 (possibly earlier?). The cable is laid by pulling a blade to slit the earth. They use two D9 Caterpillars pulling in tandem. We examined where the cable has already been laid south of Rantoul. A strip 10 feet wide was completely denuded, with the soil churned and compacted. Perhaps the damage was so severe because the soil was moist.
ECOLOGICAL SERVICES 904 SOUTH ANDERSON URBANA, ILLINOIS 61801 217 /367-8770 FAX: 217/344-5041 August 14, 1996 Protection of Endangered Species Habitats and High Quality Prairies on the ~oute of Consolidated Communications' Fiber-Optic Cable along the Illinois Central Railroad between Paxton and Chicago John White Introduction Ecological Services has carried out an effort to identify and protect endangered species habitats and high quality prairie remnants along one side of the Illinois Central Railroad between Paxton and Chicago. The work was performed between June 15 and August 9, 1996. Consolidated Communications (headquartered in Mattoon) and its contractor, Electricom (Paoli, Indiana), were installing a fiber-optic communication cable along the railroad. Consolidated Communications and Electricom agreed to avoid endangered species and high quality prairies wherever possible, if these areas were pointed out to them. • The Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board provided funding in partial support of this effort. An agreement with the Endangered Species Protection Board required Ecological Services to (a) identify sites with rare Papaipema moths ( especially the endangered Papaipema eryngii), (b) identify high quality prairie remnants, ( c) mark these sites in the field and work with the Illinois Central Railroad and Consolidated Communications to avoid or minimize disturbance to these areas, ( d) complete Illinois Natural Heritage Database element occurrence forms for the identified sites, and ( e) submit a final report. Methods Fieldwork was conducted by John White, Connie Carroll, and Lisa Bell of Ecological Services. Work proceeded north along the Illinois Central Railroad, beginning at the • The value of protecting prairies along railroads has been discussed by Bacone and Harty (1981), Borowski and Heitlinger (1981), and White (1978, 1981, 1986).
Big Four drainage ditch (two miles south of Paxton). • We examined the entire length of the cable route, as far north as Harvey. t The cable route alternated between the east side and the west side of the railroad. In some areas we were unsure where the cable would be laid, so we checked both sides of the tracks. All of the cable route was visually inspected. Much of the right-of-way could be seen by driving roads that parallel the railroad. Where no road provided access, we walked along the tracks or viewed the right-of-way from road crossings. We sometimes used binoculars to look down the tracks, and we walked where necessary to ensure that significant prairie areas were not overlooked. We examined prairie plants in search of holes and frass, which indicate that larvae of Papaipema moths might have bored into the stems. :t Special attention was paid to rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium ), which is the host plant for Papaipema eryngii (the Eryngium stem borer, or rattlesnake master root borer), a State-listed Endangered species. Thousands of rattlesnake master stems were examined. We searched for other endangered and threatened species, especially two sedges (Carex crawei and C. viridula), which had earlier been found by John Taft along the Illinois Central between Kankakee and Chebanse. Prairie remnants were evaluated with the natural quality grading system of the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory. 1 We identified and mapped patches of Grade A (very high quality) and Grade B (high quality) prairie. Grade A and B prairies were identified because they are rare and they are likely to be destroyed or severely damaged if the sod is broken. Our selection criteria included no minimum size limit, but we identified no prairie remnants less than 100 feet long. Smaller patches of prairie were too degraded to be significant. We did not identify or map Grade C (medium quality) prairies because they are relatively common, they have been heavily disturbed in the past, and they are likely to recover from disturbance caused by laying the communication cable. • The communication cable had already been buried along the railroad south of this point, between the Big Four ditch and Champaign. t Land adjacent to the tracks north of Harvey is too heavily urbanized to have any potential for natural vegetation. The northernmost section of cable (several miles in length) was buried between the tracks or was placed in an existing conduit, so there was no danger of damaging native habitats in and near Chicago. :t We inspected the following plant species: rattlesnake master (Eryngi.um yuccifolium), prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum), compass plant (Silphium laciniatum), rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium), and blazing stars (Liatris spicata, L. pycnostachya, and L. aspera). 1 See White (1978). -2-
All of the sites identified as potential endangered species habitats or significant prairies were marked with wooden stakes and flagging. Consolidated Communications and Electricom were given maps of the sites. We met on-site with the cable crew as necessary to help ensure that sensitive areas were avoided. Results Seven sites were identified to be avoided by the fiber-optic cable. Cooperation from Consolidated Communications and Electricom was splendid. All but a fraction of one percent of the prairies was entirely bypassed. Where it was impossible to completely avoid a site, -the cable-laying crew made every effort to ensure that their impact was minimal. At the outset of the project, Vern LaGesse discovered Papaipema caterpillars at Paxton Railroad Prairie (site 1 in the following list). He tentatively identified some of these larvae as Papaipema eryngii (an Endangered species). Vern LaGesse also identified Papaipema silphii and P. beeriana at Paxton Railroad Prairie or on the adjacent right-of-way of U.S. Route 45. We found one other Papaipema along the route of Consolidated Communications' cable; it was in a rattlesnake master stem north of Loda ( at site 2), and it appeared to be Papaipema silphii. The seven sites include a total of 8.4 acres of high quality (Grade B) prairie and 0.9 acre of very high quality (Grade A) prairie. The sites are described in the following numbered paragraphs. 1. Section 19, T23N, RlOE, 3rd PM, Ford County (Paxton Railroad Prairie, a Grand Prairie Friends lease from the Illinois Central Railroad). Location: East of the railroad tracks, beginning 0. 7 mile south of the southernmost street that intersects Route 45 in Paxton, and extending 600 feet south to a point 1700 feet north of railroad milepost 105. Special features: Papaipema eryngii (tentative identification), Papaipema silphii (tentative identification), Papaipema beeriana (tentative identification), • 0.1 acre of high quality (Grade B) prairie 2. Sections 10, 16, & 21, T24N,. RlOE, 3rd PM, Iroquois County (Loda Railroad Prairie). Location: West of the tracks, beginning 0.35 mile north of Jefferson Street in Loda, and extending north to a point 0.4 mile north of Road • These Papaipema specimens were found and identified by Vern LaGesse. Some of the larvae were found on the adjacent right-of-way of U.S. Route 45, rather than along the Illinois Central Railroad. Species identifications must remain tentative until the caterpillars metamorphose into adult moths at the end of summer. -3-
400 North (in five patches). Special features: Papaipema silphii (tentative identification), 3.0 acres of high quality (Grade B) prairie, 0.005 acre of very high quality (Grade A) prairie. 3. Section 34, T29N, R14W, 2nd PM, Iroquois County (Clifton Railroad Prairie). Location: West of the tracks, north of Clifton, beginning about 0.3 mile north of Road 3000 North, and extending north 760 feet. Special feature: 0.9 acre of high quality (Grade B) prairie. 4. Section 23, T29N, R14W, 2nd PM, Iroquois County (Chebanse South Railroad Prairie). Location: West of the tracks, south of Chebanse, beginning about· 0.3 mile north of Road 3200 North, and extending north 415 feet to a point 134 feet south of railroad milepost 66. Special features: 0.4 acre of high quality (Grade B) prairie, 0.05 acre of very high quality (Grade A) prairie. 5. Section 1, T29N, R14W, and section 36, T30N, R14W, 2nd PM, Kankakee County (Chebanse North Railroad Prairie, an extension of Otto Railroad Prairie). Location: West of the tracks, north of Chebanse, beginning about 0.3 mile north of Road 7000 South, and extending north a total of 5785 feet (in 5 patches). Special features: 3.1 acres of high quality (Grade B) prairie, 0.2 acre of very high quality (Grade A) prairie. 6. Section 16, T31N, Rl2E, 3rd PM, Kankakee County (Bradley Railroad Prairie). Location: West of the tracks, north of Bradley, beginning about 420 feet south of Tucker Road (Road 4000 North), and extending north 193 feet. Special features: 0.2 acre of high quality (Grade B) prairie, several exceptionally large leadplants (Amorpha canescens), 4 to 5 and 6 feet tall. 7. Section 16, T34N, R13E, 3rd PM, Will County (Monee Railroad Prairie; also known in part as Bimba Railroad Prairie). Location: East of the tracks, beginning about 0.8 mile north of the northernmost bridge across the railroad in Monee, and extending north a total of 2807 feet (in 5 patches) to a point 1045 feet south of the center of Dralle Road. Special features: 0. 7 acre of high quality (Grade B) prairie, 0.6 acre of very high quality (Grade A) prairie. This site has recently been damaged by earthmoving and placement of building materials during construction of an adjacent warehouse. The prairie may also be threatened by future construction, including the installation of a railroad siding and spur line. Grade C (medium quality) prairie is associated with all seven high quality prairie areas. In addition to these sites, Grade C prairie occupies many miles of the Illinois Central Railroad right-of-way between Champaign and Chicago. -4-
Conclusions and Recommendations Consolidated Communications, Electricom, and the Illinois Central Railroad voluntarily cooperated to protect a significant acreage of high quality tall-grass prairie, an ecosystem that has been almost completely destroyed in Illinois. The Illinois Central Railroad, Electricom, and Consolidated Communications should be publicly acknowledged for their contributions to the preservation of these natural areas. Information about railroad prairies in the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI) needs to be updated. The Loda and Chebanse North prairies (sites 2 and 5) should be added to !he INAI. The Monee prairie (site 7) encompasses an extension of a site already listed by the INAI. Because high quality prairies on loamy soil are so rare, the Clifton prairie (site 3) should be considered for adding to the INAI even though it is one-tenth acre smaller than the usual minimum acreage standard. The Paxton prairie (site 1) should be added to the INAI if the presence of Papaipema eryngii is verified. Sites that are not added to the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory should be incorporated into the "notable areas" files in the Division of Natural Heritage in the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Prairies along railroads are vulnerable to damage by railroad maintenance. Encroachment from adjacent landowners can damage or destroy prairies; current damage to the Monee prairie (site 7) is an example. Installation and maintenance of utility lines are threats. Damage to high quality prairies and endangered species habitat was avoided when Consolidated Communications' cable was buried, but other threats are bound to arise in the future. Prairies along railroads are also susceptible to deterioration from brush and weed invasion unless they are managed to maintain native vegetation. The State of Illinois should carry out a program to protect prairie remnants on railroad rights-of-way. The program should involve the following: (1) field surveys to update the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory by identifying high quality (Grade A and B) prairies, (2) identification and mapping of medium quality (Grade C) prairies, (3) preparation of a report documenting the importance of protecting prairies along railroads, and ( 4) working with owners and operators of rail lines to ensure that prairies are afforded long-term protection and management. Acknowledgments This project was made possible through the cooperation of the Illinois Central Railroad. Randall Lowe is the Illinois Central's representative who set up the lease that protects Paxton Railroad Prairie. Mr. Lowe also helped make arrangements that allowed Consolidated Communications and Electricom to bypass the prairies and potential habitats of endangered species. -5-
Each member of Consolidated Communications' staff who worked with us on this project was quite cooperative. It was a real pleasure to work with Consolidated Communications' staff: Ken Wubben, Gary Hougham, Dan Field, Mike Andersen, Peter Barr, Charlene Homan, Bob Udell, and Robert Currey. Electricom's cable-laying crews amiably and capably went out of their way to accommodate our requests to avoid prairies and endangered species habitats. John Franklin was in charge of the southern crew. Rodney Atwood and Harvey Thompson headed the northern crew. Kevin Mason oversaw the effort for Electricom. Sue Lauzon, Executive Director of the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board, arranged for partial funding of the field surveys and protection effort. Carolyn Grosboll (Illinois Nature Preserves Commission), Brian Anderson (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), and Fran Harty (Illinois Department of Natural Resources) took part in efforts to identify funding for the project. Vern LaGesse found the Papaipema caterpillars at Paxton Railroad Prairie. His discovery helped stimulate interest in inventorying and protecting prairies along the route of Consolidated Communications' cable. Members and supporters of the Grand Prairie Friends of Illinois helped work out the agreement that avoided damage to Paxton Railroad Prairie, which the Grand Prairie Friends leases from the Illinois Central Railroad. Ruth Green, President of Grand Prairie Friends, made the initial contact with Consolidated Communications. Negotiations on behalf of the Grand Prairie Friends established the basis for subsequently protecting the other prairies. Connie Carroll and Rachel Shaw ( co-stewards of Paxton Railroad Prairie), Lisa Bell, John White, and Jan Hari assisted in this effort. Deanna Glosser (Illinois Department of Natural Resources) notified Consolidated Communications of the potential habitat for an endangered species at Paxton Railroad Prairie, and she urged Consolidated Communications to avoid impact on the site. Mary Kay Solecki (Illinois Nature Preserves Commission) took part in discussions that led to protection of Paxton Railroad Prairie. Bill Glass (Illinois Department of Natural Resources) met with the northern cablelaying crew to help ensure that the Monee prairie (site 7) was bypassed. Dave Mauger (Forest Preserve District of Will County) helped protect the Monee site. He met with workers who are building a warehouse adjacent to the prairie to help ensure that inadvertent damage to the prairie is partially repaired, and future damage is avoided. Marcy DeMauro (Forest Preserve District of Will County) voiced support for Consolidated Communications' effort to avoid prairie remnants in Will County. -6-
Ron Panzer, who discovered the first known modern population of Papaipema eryngu, provided guidance in techniques for finding and identifying Papaipema eryngu. John Taft (Illinois Natural History Survey) shared information about the location of rare sedges that he had found along the railroad. Dave Monk (Educational Resources in Environmental Science) helped educate the field crew of Electricom and Consolidated Communications about the rarity and value of natural prairie. References Cited Bacone, J.A., and F.M. Harty. 1981. An inventory of railroad prairies in Illinois. Pages 173-176 in R.L. Stuckey and K.J. Reese (editors). The Prairie Peninsula-In the "Shadow" of Transeau: Proceedings of the Sixth North American Prairie Conference. Ohio Biological Survey, Columbus. Borowski, J.R., and M.E. Heitlinger. 1981. Survey of native prairie on railroad rights-of-way in Minnesota. Pages 22-28 in S.C. Herman (editor). Landscape and Environmental Design. National Academy of Science, Washington. White, J. 1978. Illinois Natural Areas Inventory Technical Report. Volume I. Survey Methods and Results. Illinois Natural Areas Inventory, Urbana. 426 p. White, J. 1981. A survey of Illinois prairies. Pages 172-173 in R.L. Stuckey and K.J. Reese (editors). The Prairie Peninsula - In the "Shadow" of Transeau: Proceedings of the Sixth North American Prairie Conference. Ohio Biological Survey, Columbus. White, J. 1986. Why bother to protect prairies along railroads? Pages 172-173 in G.K. Clambey and R.H. Pemble (editors). The Prairie: Past, Present and Future. Proceedings of the Ninth North American Prairie Conference. TriCollege University Center for Environmental Studies, Fargo, North Dakota. -7-