Seed Collecting: Building on the Pastby Robyn Flakne

Volunteers scraped seedheads over wire mesh or rubbedthem between their fingers. They arranged garbage cansaccording to their seed contents. They shoveled and turnedmixes. When the perlite dust cleared, 62 Kitchen GarbageBags (KGBs - the North Branch standard unit of measure) ofprocessed, mixed seed emerged. Left over was an additionalamount of unmixed seed, the equivalent of 20.5 KGBs. The1989 seed mixing party on November 4, attended by 30volunteers, was the pinnacle of the largest harvest in NorthBranch history. Described by Robert Lonsdorf as "plantjewels," the seeds are both the product of and the materialfor the Project's progress.Finding the jewels

Much of the critical groundwork for last year's successwas laid by earlier coordinators David Painter and DonnaHriljac. Over several years, David located and collectedfrom spring flora seed sources and Donna monitored andcoordinated savanna seed collection. Last year's seedcollection coordinator, Bev Hansen, orchestrated the effortsthat culminated in the seed mixing party. Her majorchallenge was that "the locations of plant populations wewant were in the heads of different people. There was littlewritten down. John Balaban and others told me about ortook me to a lot of these places. I kept a log of everywhere Iwent, so now we have a written record of locations. We'regoing to put them on computer and map them. For someplaces we already had maps and we could key in the plantlocations."

Collection of prairie seeds takes place within a IS-mileradius from North Branch sites. Because they are more rare,savanna seeds are collected up to 25 miles away. Distancelimits are imposed to maintain ecotypes native to the locallandscape. Plants growing in the vicinity of North Branchprairies are likely to be adapted to the conditions of thoseprairies.

Initially, North Branch did not collect in substantialquantities from its own prairies because they were nothealthy enough to serve as seed sources. Now the majority

Continued on page 3

PRAIRIE'PROJECTIONS

Newsletter of the North Branch Prairie ProjectAugust, 1990

The Volunteer Connectionby Jill Riddell

One measure of success for a group like the North BranchPrairie Project is in its ability to inspire others to act.Important work cannot be done alone, with few people andlittle resources. The ecosystems restored by volunteers atthe North Branch prairies are important in and ofthemselves. Equally important are the many other naturalarea restorations that have been inspired by the NorthBranch Prairie Project either directly or indirectly.

Leon Halloran, steward for Bluff Spring Fen near Elgin,says, "Everything that is being done now relates back to theNorth Branch in some way." Recognizing that the NorthBranch Prairie Project is the oldest such group and that it isthe prototype for the entire Volunteer Stewardship Network,this is not an unreasonable conclusion.

The paths back to the North Branch are sometimestenuous and sometimes direct. Some restoration efforts, likeBluff Spring Fen, Wolf Road Prairie, and Poplar CreekProject, were set up by people who were directly involvedwith the North Branch Prairie Project as volunteers.

Other groups were set up in the model of the NorthBranch Prairie Project without their even realizing it by theirlink through the Volunteer Stewardship Network. ThisNature Conservancy program recruits and trains volunteersto take responsibility for stewardship work on natural areasin Illinois. Continued on page 6

Richard Phalen and Ross Sweeny examine a bag of seedon Earth Day.

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Prairie Project Mourns Mim Desmond

We can't return, past fires burn, each seasonturns in its own peculiar way.

From A Song for Mim by her brother, Ed DesmondJuly, 1990

Mim Desmond had lived a life of full, rich seasons whenshe died on July 15 at the age of 38. North Branchers,whose seasons will feel her loss keenly, knew Mim as aspirited and dedicated workday regular for more than tenyears, until her final illness. Before the Prairie Project beganin 1977, she and her friend Steve Packard, whom she latermarried, visited the prairie lands around Chicago. Theyexplored Bunker Hill together and produced the NorthBranch's first plant list there. Mim learned and lovednumerous prairie plants and shared her enthusiasm byteaching them to new volunteers over the years. Mim's wasa warm welcome indeed to the Prairie Project.

Mim touched North Branchers in many ways and has leftus with happy memories: her wordplays, jokemaking andstorytelling during workday sessions; her incredibly moistzucchini bread; the whimsical hand-stitched North Branchbanner she inspired and worked on; the stunning quilts forprairie friends' babies; her help with plant surveys andmailings. In 1986 Mim started the Prairie Garden at NorthPark Village and coaxed it with some success through twovery dry years.

Despite an eleven year struggle with brain cancer, Mim'slife was rich and productive. Prairie was only part of it. She

~-~wasgefierous--fiear[ed, a gtving-persorrwho believe-d in-- - --working to bring about a better world. Trained as a nurseand midwife, she used her skills in teaching and helpingfriends. She worked with HERS, a referral agency forresponsible abortion and other women's health services thatshe co-founded in 1974. She tutored Vietnamese women asa volunteer and, in the months before her final surgery,worked for the American Friends Service Committee.

Mim was completely, refreshingly Mim to all who knewher. She was unconventional and uncompromising in hervalues. She was fresh of spirit, vital with humor, simple oflife and manner, with a passionate love of music and ofnature's beauty. She was a craftswoman who created beautythrough needlework and the art of baking. A close friendsaid: "Mim's eyes caught the beauty in everything. She sawbeauty in things that I never would have thought to considerbeautiful."

Following a memorial service on July 29, family andfriends of Mim planted savanna seed- some of it from thegarden she and Steve tended - in an oak grove at SommePrairie Grove. The grove, now in the initial stage ofrestoration, will be dedicated to Mim.

Susanne Masi

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Mim Desmond and her nephew, Eliot.

The Seed Sharing Agreementby Karen Holland

Many prairie and savanna grasses and forbs were notpresent when restoration began on North Branch PrairieProject sites. Seed had to be collected from sites in Cookand Lake Counties. Today the North Branch has anorganized, effective, seed gathering operation. Although the ~quantity of seed collected varies annually, thus limiting thesize of the area which can be restored the following year, thenumber of prairie and savanna-species present at NorthBranch sites is increasing.

New restoration groups face twin problems of a lack ofseed on site and a dwindling number of seed sources due to ~development. As the oldest and most experienced /restoration group belonging to the Volunteer StewardshipNetwork, The North Branch Prairie Project is in a position toshare a limited amount of seed if the local ecotype of thenew site is the same.

Groups must identify their needs before seed collectingtime. In return for seed, receiving groups will be asked tosign a Seed Sharing Agreement. This agreement will be anaffirmation of the receiving group's commitment toresponsible restoration management. The commitment mustinclude protection of the site and long-term planning,including controlled burning.

In the future, as more sites are restored, the number ofseed sources will begin to increase and seed will be availablefor even more prairie and savanna restoration projects.

• Thank You

The North Branch Prairie Project wishes tothank the Forest Preserve District of Cook Countyfor generously providing us with tools andsupplies for our restoration work ..

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Seeds, from page 1

of seed is collected on North Branch sites, and seed fromother sites enriches the species list and genetic diversity. Itis fortunate that North Branch sites are becoming seedsources, because development is eliminating many of thesites used for seed collecting in the past. Those that remainare often delicate areas, especially the savanna sites where itis impractical to take large groups. Last year, volunteers likeHollis Baker and Susie Kanno helped Bev collect onweekdays from these areas. This year Bev hopes to establisha core crew to become familiar with these sites and collectfrom them on weekdays. During regular Sunday workdays,large groups of volunteers can concentrate on working theNorth Branch sites.Spreading the wealth

Some plants flower in spring and produce mature seedsin summer, for example savanna forbs such as bloodroot,white trout lily and toothwort. Bev found that these seeds"didn't want to dry" and could be thrown immediately ontothe savannas to benefit from summer rains.

Most of the collecting, however, takes place over asix-week period in autumn, when the majority of prairieseeds ripen. Workdays focus on seed collecting andcleaning. Volunteers learn to recognize prairie plantswithout their summer colors. Robert Lonsdorf observed,"You don't know a plant until you collect and plant itsseeds." Bev has started a collection of dry specimens so shecan show her crew their quarry.

Seed collected last autumn was kept separate accordingto species, dried in brown paper bags and stored. It wasmixed into garbage cans at the mixing party. Each canreceived species suited to one of 16 habitats ranging fromdry prairie to wet closed savanna. With a tape recorder, JaneBalaban recorded the species in each mix. Perlite was addedto the mixes to help seed spreaders see which areas theyhave planted in the field.

Seeds from Somme Prairie Nature Preserve were keptseparate because it is an Illinois nature preserve. By law itsseed can only be returned to the preserve. Twenty-fivepercent of the seed was given to the new 8oo-acre PoplarCreek prairie and savanna restoration in return for PoplarCreek volunteer labor donated to the seed collecting effort.Seed was also given to restoration projects at North Park .Village, Emily Oaks Nature Center, Northeastern IllinoisUniversity and Fermilab Prairie.

Following Ross Sweeny's dictum to "rake 'til you ache,"volunteers will spread the remaining seed into North Branchprairies and savannas. Seed is introduced to areas that havebeen cleared of brush and burned. NBPP seeding generallytakes place during fall and early winter until the ground isfrozen. The remaining seeds are stored until spring. Toallow them to break dormancy with spring's warmth, theyare kept in a cold garage. In early spring, seeds may bebroadcast or raked directly on sites or may be "wetstratified," a process of mixing seeds with moisture andstoring them in a refrigerated enclosure just above freezing

for about six weeks. Mixes containing legumes are furthertreated with a bacterial innoculant.

For Bev, 1989 was a year of learning. She kept trackof the locations, blooming times, and seed maturity ofvarious plants; arranged for storing seeds, and organizedvolunteers. She stresses that "seed collecting is a rewardingactivity. It's not hard. You don't have to be a plantidentification expert to do it, but you learn a lot. We want todevelop a volunteer corps interested in collecting seeds."

Raking in the seed.

• Book Review: Where the Sky Beganby John Madson. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982A readable, informative bookfor all tallgrassprairie enthusiasts.

As an introduction to the ecology of tallgrass prairies,Where the Sky Began is an excellent reference. John Madsonguides the reader through the shaping of the prairielandscape by glaciers, the complexities of prairie plantecosystems and the relationships of animals to prairiehabitats.

The historic intrusion of humans into the tallgrass prairieis sensitively conveyed through information obtained fromthe diaries and reports written by missionaries, trailblazers,sodbusters and government officials. The forest orientedpsyche of the early settlers gives the reader insight into theprairie's eventual demise.

A description of today's tallgrass prairie relicts is relatedwith sad, often personal anecdotes. The reader is left with afeeling of awe for the magnificent ocean of grasses, and afeeling of envy of those who observed the tallgrass prairiebefore it succumbed to the plow.

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Ross Sweeny receives his award.

• Award

On May 10, 1990 Ross Sweeny received the "Protector ofthe Environment/Advocate Award" from the ChicagoAudubon Society for his work with the North Branch PrairieProject. Fellow North Branch volunteers attended theannual awards dinner and ceremony, which was held at AnnSather's Restaurant, to show support for Ross's efforts asEcological Work Group Chairman. Congratulations, Ross!

Seed Equations. by Ross Sweeny _.

In May, Ross Sweeny and Steve Packard unfolded a 9'3" by7' plastic tarp.

9'3" x 7' = 64.75 sq. feetUsing a two-cup measuring cup, they spread seed on the tarpas if they were seeding a cleared section of ground. Theamount of seed spread on the tarp by both was 2/3 (0.67)cup.

0.67 cup x 100 = 1.03 cup64.75 sq. feet 100 sq. feet

Thus, one cup of seed will cover approximately 100 sq. feet.Then Sweeny took a large kitchen garbage bag (KGB) thatwas as full as possible with seed and measured how muchseed the bag contained.

1 KGB = 180 cups

Therefore, one full KGB of seed will cover:100 sq. feet x 180 cups = 18,000 sq. feet

1 cup KGB KGB18,000sq. feet is equivalent to an area 134' x 134', or 0.41acres. In 1989,49.5 KGBs of seed were available for plant-ing. With 180 cups per KGB, this amounts to 8,900 cups ofseed which should cover about 900,000 sq. feet of soon-to-be prairie. In other words, 20.5 acres worth of seed!

Earth Day 1990by Karen Holland

With a shout of "Timber!" two volunteers toppled thebuckthorn tree, then dragged it to the brush pile. The youngman with protective glasses standing on top of the pilegrabbed the tree and pushed it into place, then jumped on itto try and compress the pile to a manageable size for a futureburn. A hundred yards away, in the savanna, volunteersraked up leaves and sticks, baring the ground. Afterscattering savanna seed on the area, volunteers withthree-pronged rakes worked the seed into the soil.

The opportunity to participate in prairie and savannarestoration activities was extended to all who attended theNorth Branch Prairie Project's Open House/Earth Daycelebration on April 29th at Somme Prairie Grove. Tourguides conducted walks through Vestal Grove and prairieareas. Children searched for plants to match color swatches,colored prairie scenes and put prairie puzzles together.Volunteers willing to cultivate prairie and savanna plants intheir own gardens were given seedlings to nurture.

After a picnic lunch, Larry Jakus delighted participantswith a tale about the decrease of the prairies in Illinois due tolack of fire, human settlement and the introduction ofEuropean buckthorn. Ross Sweeny spoke about theimportance of the volunteer to the survival of today's prairiesand savannas. Recognition was extended to Alice Thompson \for her coordination of North Branch Open House/Earth Dayactivities.

Richard Phalen, the Democratic candidate for president ofthe Cook County Beard, stopped to tour the savanna withBev Hansen. In an overture of good will, Phalen promised tolisten to ideas concerning the management by the NorthBranch of prairie and savanna areas within Cook County.

North Branch Prairie Project's Open House/Earth Day1990 was successful. The square yardage of cleared brushyareas increased. New people toured and learned about prairieand savanna restoration. The smiles and thank you's ofparticipants for a satisfying, fruitful day rewarded allinvolved.

Adding to the brush pile.

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ILarry Jakus delights volunteers with a prairie story.

Future volunteer gardeners.

Tours through the prairie.

1991 Nesting Bird Surveywith Jerry Sullivan

Help! The biggest thing I learned by doing a survey ofnesting birds at Somme Woods this spring is that 150 acresis too much space for one person to cover. Is there anybodyout there who would like to share the job with me next year?

We could divide Somme into two tracts: an east of thetracks tract and a west of the tracks tract. I'll take one side;you take the other. Four tracts, two on each side of thetracks, would be even better.

Another thing I learned this year is that you don't have tobe an expert birder to conduct a nesting survey. Almost allthe birds you will be seeing are common, widely recognizedspecies. You don't need to be Roger Tory Peterson toidentify song sparrows, robins, catbirds, and flickers. Also,it takes at least a month to complete the breeding cycle formost birds (larger species take even longer). So any speciesthat is actually nesting and not just passing through will bepresent for several weeks--which means you'll have ampletime to study it.

You will also have the benefit of what I have managed tolearn so far. I will put together a cassette of the songs andcalls of the birds of Somme which you can study inpreparation for next year's breeding season.

Ideally, a nesting survey would begin in January orFebruary with some twilight visits in search of nesting greathomed owls. We'd want more twilight visits in late Marchand early April to look for displaying male woodcocks.

The bulk of the work would be done between mid-Mayand the end of June. During that time, you would make asmany visits as you can. Early morning is the best time. Youcan arrive at 6 or 6:30, spend a couple of hours, and then goto your day job.

If anyone is interested, call me at 312-583-2046.

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S wltchJr_u7.lIlCum 1I"J4 tum: TOR

Prairie Gardner forWest Lincoln Park

Steve Packard is looking for someone whocan help gather seed and weed at the NBPP'soldest seed garden near Wellington and Wolcott.Call 346-8166 (days).

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Volunteers, from page 1

When Steve Packard came to the Nature Conservancy in1983, he proposed a volunteer network using the NorthBranch Prairie Project as a model. At the North Branch, heand others figured out the answers to difficult problems suchas how to make the work compelling to potential volunteers.Other field offices of the Conservancy despaired of findingvolunteers who could do quality stewardship work:technically demanding, dirty and muscle intensive. Itseemed, on the surface, as though people would be about aswilling to volunteer for stewardship work for the good of anecological community as they would be for laying sewerpipe for the good of their human community.

The people who created the North Branch Prairie Projectstarted off simply wanting to save some rare prairies, usingtheir bare hands and open minds. In the process, they hitupon a fundamental formula that has made the project andothers like it extraordinarily successful. A lot could bewritten about what the "formula" is exactly. It is clear that abig part of what makes stewardship work compelling,outside of its innate importance, is that it is an opportunity--arare opportunity--for a person to have a direct, tangible,positive effect on his or her environment.

Since its inception, the success of the Illinois NatureConservancy's Volunteer Stewardship Network has inspiredother chapters of the Conservancy, for example in Ohio,Michigan and California, to try similar projects. TheVolunteer Stewardship Network won the Conservancy'sNational Stewardship Award in 1989.

The North Branch Prairie Project is now both inspiring toand benefiting from a vastly larger movement of naturalrestoration across the United States and Canada. At thesame time the North Branch was developing, so were otherlike-minded groups and individuals. The Society forEcological Restoration is the result. As the North Branchfeeds information and ideas into the society, it is alsolearning from other groups.

The influence of the North Branch Prairie Project hasexpanded past the continental United States to the VirginIslands. Through a link made with the Society forEcological Restoration, some of the North Branch PrairieProject's organizational and ecological techniques will beadapted to restoring the semi-tropical environment of theisland of St. John.

Bill Jordan, a founder of the Society of EcologicalRestoration, once described the North Branch Prairie Projectas "more important than Yosemite". If that is true, it isbecause of this: unlike Yosemite, the North Branch isn't justabout rocks and trees; it is also about the relationship of~ to these things.

Because of this human component, the North BranchPrairie Project has inspired many different kinds of people toget involved. For many, volunteering with the North Branchis limited to participating physically in workdays on theprairie. In the past couple of years, as the focus of work hasexpanded, different people have brought different skills to

the Project. This has made a variety of outreach projectspossible.

A 1988 lecture series held in the winter on successiveTuesday evenings at the Chicago Academy of Sciences inLincoln Park brought a crowd that was not the same as theone coming to workdays in the suburbs on Sunday mornings.From that event came new volunteers with new talents.

The Ninth Northern Illinois Prairie Workshop wasorganized and sponsored by the North Branch PrairieProject, Northeastern Illinois University and The CookCounty Forest Preserve District. Held April 1, 1989, itattracted close to a thousand participants for an all daySaturday event. Each new event produces new volunteersfor the North Branch, the broader natural area restorationmovement and the environmental movement in general.

It is important to note that the North Branch PrairieProject does not claim to have sprung directly from somemystical fountain of knowledge. It is built on the pioneeringwork of Dr. Robert F. Betz, Dr. John Curtis and otherecologists who planted the seeds for the North Branch withtheir own work.

The people in the North Branch Prairie Project are thepractitioners whose efforts test the ecological theoriesproposed by ecologists. By restoring prairies and savannas,they are learning in practice what science has suspected; andin some cases, such as savanna restoration, they are learningwhat science has not suspected or predicted. In the process,the North Branch Prairie Project is inspiring people to learn'and care about our native, pristine ecosystems--and inspiringquestions and concerns regarding our human-inhabitedecosystems that may.lead to better solutions for our planet'sgeneral environmental problems.

The tallgrass prairie "is that surface, which, in theexpressive language of the country, is calledrolling, and which has been said to resemble thelong, heavy swell of the ocean when its waves aresubsiding to rest after the agitation of a storm."

By Judge James Hallin Where the Sky Began by John Madson

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Trashby StevenD. Cook

Like the national parks, the North Branch prairies arepublic lands set aside for the benefit of all. However, someof the prairies' neighbors have ideas different than those ofthe prairie volunteers about how to benefit from them. A fewof these neighbors are using the prairies as free dumpinggrounds.

"Because the prairies are on public land, some peoplethink that they can do whatever they want on them,including dumping garbage," says Bev Hansen.

Bev, who lives near Somme Woods prairie nearNorthbrook, says the most commonly dumped materials areyard wastes, like leaves and grass clippings. But that is notall that is dumped.

"Someone is dumping kitty litter on a regular basis," Bevsays. "There is a huge pile of it near Dundee Road." Inaddition, Bev and others have found old hubcaps, a muffler,used anti-freeze jugs and a baby buggy. "Why can't peoplejust put these things in the garbage?" Bev asks.

The dumping problem is not limited to Somme. PrestonSpinks says that neighboring residents are using WaysideWoods prairie in Morton Grove as a dumping ground. "TheForest Preserve District has twice put up signs sayingdumping is prohibited and someone keeps tearing themdown," Spinks says.

Spinks once discovered several large piles of yard wasteand clay at the Morton Grove Prairie in the village's PrairieView Park. He identified white pine boughs in the waste andfound a nearby house with a white pine tree in front whereextensive yard work had been done. A log in the wastematched a tree stump in the yard. He also identifiedwheelbarrow tracks from the yard to the prairie. Prestoninformed the police, who threatened the dumper with acitation if he did not clear the trash from the prairie by thefollowing week. The trash disappeared in a few days.

Concerned about a growing problem with dumping atSomme Woods Prairie, Bev drafted a letter and sent it to 20households on the southern edge of the prairie inNorthbrook. In the letter, she explained that the area inSomme where much of the dumping was occurring is one ofthe few remaining oak savannas in Illinois and is athreatened ecosystem.

"We wanted to increase the awareness of the neighbors ofthe treasure we have at Somme," Bev says.

In addition to fouling the environment, dumping in theprairie can introduce unwanted exotic vegetation. Gardenplants, such as lily of the valley and day lilies, have takenover in parts of Sauganash and Miami Woods Prairies."People dig these things out of their yards and just dumpthem in the prairies, where they can take root and spread,"Bev says.

Preston says that with the new ban on disposing yardwaste trash, dumping in the prairies can be expected toincrease. However, so far, that has not happened. "I haven'tseen any more dumping than usual, yet," he says.

The Natury Conservancy's Steve Packard says thatdumping in the prairies is a problem that is manageable withpublic education. "If more people are aware of what theyhave in these prairies, they will respect them more."

"Bi'j t{uesrem;"',narOfOJon !Jerucli TOR

Science Committee Startup

A new science committee is being formed at the NorthBranch Prairie Project to catalogue, coordinate, map andresearch prairie and savanna related projects. Volunteers areneeded for the following areas of involvement:

Repositor: Help gather, catalogue, update, store,maintain and distribute past and ongoing research reports,listings, management reports and articles.

Computer operator: Map North Branch sites, seedsources, plants, weekly activities. Requires own computer.

Outreach coordinator: Initiate and stimulateadditional studies and research on North Branch sites.Contact local universities and museums in order to solicitresearch activities.

Photographer: Periodic photographing of managementareas to monitor changes.

Research scientists: Conduct new studies or assist incontinuing projects in the areas of mammal, bird andbutterfly studies, plant inventories, rare plant monitoring,deer impact, social science issues, and soil and hydrologyanalysis. The topics for analysis are endless.

Co-coordinator: Monitor and orchestrate all of theabove, communicate with participating volunteers and otherNorth Branch committees, and call meetings to reportprogress.

Interested persons should call Tom Murphy at312-338-3165 for further information.

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The Genetically AdaptedPrairie Worker of the FutureOverdeveloped inner ear, Eagle eyesight, capable of spottingaidingbalance on white sweet clover at 300 yds.those wobbly brush piles ••. /'

-.J~ti~ ~ ~per strong molars_ for tearing into those

_ frozen bagelson January workdays

/Webbed feet prevent sinking in wet areas »

Interested in Being Published?Prairie Projections needs writers, photographers (black

and white work), and artists interested in being published inthese pages.

Contributors are also needed for plant pamphlets andguides to our prairies. Call Karen Holland at 929-7658

North Branch Prairie Project

The Sierra ClubSuite 525506 S. WabashChicago, IL 60605

The North BranchPrairie Project is acooperative effortinvolving TheNature Conservency,the Chicago AudubonSociety, and the SierraClub, Chicago group.

We manage these sitesas volunteersfor theForest Preserve Districtof Cook County

on-ProfitOrganizationU. S. Postage

Paid at Chicago, ILPermit No. 535

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