Prairie Restoration

[Erik Kepler]

So the latest project we are working on in class is to redesign a forest preserve area that is restoring prairie on site.  The idea of the project is to convince a donor to donate the full $50,000 that she has available.  Some ideas given were to make maintenance easier and make the overall site more appealing to the general public.  It is already used for recreation purposes like running and biking on a 3 mile bike trail 1.5 miles are actually on this site.  So as far as this discussion goes, what kind of things do most of you try to include in order to increase public interest while still keeping cost down and making maintenance easier?  This could be anything from focusing on one fix to fixing all problems, its up to you.

[Tanya Olson]

What is the purpose of the preserve? Is it already owned publicly – is it a land trust, conservation easement, public park or what? Why does the site need to be more appealing to the public? Why are you trying to convince the donor to commit the entire amount at once? What kind of shape is the existing prairie in? What kind of maintenance is already done? What would be considered a successful fruition of the project / site? Site goals? Objectives?

I’ll bite despite not knowing any of these details…. the donor could have the donation held in trust for restoration and maintenance, which could include controlled burns, replanting, yearly invasive exotic weed control and species monitoring. She could start a foundation (not sure of the paperwork and if it would be worth it to start one with that small of an initial investment) but the foundation could also raise money for future work on the site.
A multi-year installation and maintenance plan particularly focused on weed control and elimination would be necessary for a successful restoration in the midwest…with thistle, spurge and buckthorn, maybe longer depending on adjacent land uses.

Increase public interest in a forest / prairie preserve? The only forest preserve I’ve been to in IL was baffling to me – it was essentially a giant lawn with some baseball fields bordered by bike paths and highly impacted suburban woodland. It seemed more like a partially wooded public park….maybe you could enlighten…???

[Erik Kepler]

Well, let’s see if i can make this short, I doubt it though. The purpose of the preserve is mainly to reclaim the land as prairie although originally it was woodland if I remember everything correctly. It is owned by the county so it is a public preserve, the site itself, although I haven’t been there in the summer, is mainly prairie, which I am fine with, but I was thinking attracting more attention will get a start on getting the general public aware of the cause of restoring prairie. Convincing to commit the entire amount at once was one of the guidelines for the project, it doesn’t necessarily have to all be used right away, we’re just trying to make a design that will push the donor to donate all of the planned money. The existing prairie is under construction at the moment, they are removing weedy species and ‘foreign’ objects from the site. A successful fruition? Well, given the guidelines I’m not too sure, but I’m assuming it’s anything that can lower maintenance costs while attracting more visitors to the area. Site goals are few and the only one i remember off hand is lowering the maintenance cost. This forest preserve is kind of what you had seen before, it is Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve in Mahomet, IL, the area with the prairie restoration is a site that was donated years back and they are in the process of restoring bits and pieces to prairie while the rest contains a botanical garden, golf course, small river, Early American Museum, and a little more. The prairie area would be much better but it is literally right next to I-74 so you get the traffic noise up until you are fairly far away, you can see an Arby’s sign in the distance on some of the site because Mahomet is actually right across I-74. In certain times of the year they hold cross-country races and recreational events in the park. If you can think of anything else let me know, but I really appreciate the feedback.

[Tanya Olson]

I’m sure lots of people will have input and you may not be able to proceed this way because of ‘assignment’ constraints….since it appears to be a heavily impacted site, with little or no connectivity for species movement (so a prairie remnant, really), why not intertwine all of the uses of the site? Could part of the prairie be intertwined with the golf course? (I have never seen that many TREES on a golf course!)
Could the botanical garden be connected with the prairie?
My personal (informed) opinion is that an unconnected prairie remnant has little value other than as a botanical garden – education, changing the midwestern aesthetic a little bit at a time….the best way to lower future maintenance costs is through a high-quality, multi-year restoration / maintenance regime. Having well-established native prairie is the best way to keep out exotics (though again, it depends on adjacent land uses and invasive seed sources). I doubt $50,000 would be enough to start from scratch on the prairie, much less pay for 5-years + of fairly intensive maintenance…you could burn the whole thing, till it up, germinate and burn again – maybe devote two summers to clearing invasives, planting native grasses in the 3rd spring and forbes in the 4th spring or 3rd fall. A combination of seed and plugs is nice – you can plant plugs closer to visible areas, which is a nice advertisement for native plants.

Public interest – utilize the press. Get the local papers interested in the project. Get buy in and verbal support from local governmental agencies. I think part of our job is definately political and helping to stir interest in projects.

Another way to gain greater public interest / awareness/ use of the site is to make it an ‘art’ project. One thing I have liked to do with restoration projects is group large swaths of plants together (Didn’t Oehme and VanSweden do this at the Chicago Botanical Garden?)- they disperse over time, but have a great visual impact initially. This may be useful in piquing interest from the freeway – so perhaps something heavily patterned….could you design controlled burns in patterns? (would that even work to controll invasives?) Part of invasive species control is yearly mowing – could you mow in patterns? Maybe too artsy or too much to ask of maintenance crews…
I hope this is what you were asking for and isn’t completely useless advice. Sounds like a really fun project! Good Luck!

[Erik Kepler]

Thank you for the advice it’s actually given me a few ideas, so I’ll definitely see where I can go with it.

[Trace One]

People like animals. I don’t like the idea of mixing uses – I say go for total prarie/ woodland restoration, with elevated decking paths through it, and use site for sculptural representations of animals appropriate for the site – have a competition for winning sculpture for each appropriate animal sculpture – …

?
Just a thought..And maybe if the appropriate animals see their sculptures, they will want to come back to the site..
Just kidding..
🙂

[Erik Kepler]

I actually kind of like this idea, I’m going to have to not do the elevated pathways because I already know of at least two people doing this, and I like to go for originality, the idea for the sculptures is pretty cool, my only problem is that as far as ‘natural’ prairie goes I kind of feel like it may be too gaudy. Now, the site is named Buffalo Trace, so, I could have some kind of competition for a sculpture piece to go at the entrance that in some way represents what this area is named for. And you never know, the sculptures could bring the buffalo back. 😉

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