March 24, 2014
To Restore and Restock
Biodiversity Restoration in
the Forest Preserves of Cook County
This account summarizes
the pioneering work done by professionals and volunteers as they developed new
(and now widely respected) approaches to conserving our natural woodlands, prairies, and wetlands.
A goal for the Forest Preserves of Cook County from their
inception, was “to restore, restock, protect and preserve the natural forests
and such lands together with their flora and fauna, as nearly as may be, in
their natural state and condition.”
Learning to do this well would take decades. But it is worth
noting that even the earliest reports and plans of the District featured a map
of the original vegetation of the county (mostly prairie but with woodlands
along the rivers) and celebrated the woodlands, prairies, and wetlands for
their natural beauty and recreational value. The early reports also featured
collaboration with citizen volunteers and conservation groups, as it was
obvious from the beginning that more ambitious goals could be achieved this
way.
Starting in the early decades, Forest Preserve resource
managers have done restoration, as it was then understood. They planted
woodland and grassland (maintained initially by mowing) for both wildlife and
people. Staff members were among the first to experiment with habitat
restoration. At the inception of ecological restoration as a scientific
discipline in the 1940s, conservation superintendent Roberts Mann and others were
in touch with Aldo Leopold and others at the University of Wisconsin as
restoration concepts developed.
Researcher Natalie Bump Vena found:
“Following
the Illinois Natural History Survey's recommendation, in 1940, Roberts Mann
contacted a University of Wisconsin ecologist who was leading a prairie
restoration with CCC labor in Madison. The ecologist, Theodore Sperry, traveled
to Cook County in August 1940 to help the Forest Preserve District plan its own
prairie restoration using work relief labor. Sperry drafted a plan for the
work, but with the onset of WWII and the end of the work relief programs, the
District had to abandon the restoration. Between Roberts Mann and Doc Thompson
(who had worked at the Illinois Natural History Survey), an interest in
prairies lingered in the Department of Conservation. During the 1950s,
important Chicago-area naturalists, namely Floyd Swink and Doc Beecher, worked
in that Department.
“Beginning
in 1962, naturalists in the Forest Preserve District began developing expertise
in prairie restoration by experimenting with land management techniques on
property attached to the nature centers. In the mid-1960s there even existed a
nursery for prairie plants in southern Cook County. People often attribute the
first use of agricultural techniques in large-scale prairie restoration to Bob
Betz in the 1970s. In fact, Westcott and naturalists at Crabtree Nature Center
began using farm equipment to establish prairies there in the 1960s. At Camp
Sagawau, Dave Blenz carried out a meticulous restoration that resembled Ray
Schulenberg's Morton Arboretum project in technique.”[1]
For a time, the tree and grass species that were planted
reflected what was available and practical, without limitation to local or even
North American native species. But expectations changed as the prairie
restoration experiments at the University of Wisconsin began to show that true
ecosystem restoration was practical. David Blenz’ highly respected prairie
restoration at Camp Sagawa was one of the first in the Chicago region.
Another strong influence on ecosystem management was the
Illinois Nature Preserves Commission. Recognizing the importance of new insights
into nature preservation, Forest Preserve Superintendent “Cap” Sauers was a
founding member of the Commission and helped develop its principles and goals. When
the Forest Preserve District enrolled key parcels of its land (as eleven of the
first twelve Illinois Nature Preserves), it gave prestige and momentum to this important
new institution.
Both Blenz and the Commission emphasized the importance of
fire to the natural prairies. When in the 1970s, additional prairie
restorations were planted at River Trail, Crab Tree, and Sand Ridge Nature
Centers – controlled burns were conducted regularly by staff as a critical part
of management. For the Nature Preserve prairies, such as Shoe Factory Road
Prairie, Forest Preserve staff sometimes authorized the Nature Preserves
Commission to take responsibility for the burns.
As was true for many agencies, prairie restoration fostered
a rethinking of the basic principles of forest preserve management. Until the
1940s the consensus was to “leave nature to manage itself.” Gradually,
ecologists and resource managers everywhere were learning that fire could be a
valuable tool and than cancer-like invasive species could degrade healthy
ecosystems and eliminate the diverse “natural flora and fauna.”
The heritage of Blenz and the ongoing work of Westcott,
Strand, and others focused the Forest Preserve ecosystem restoration on the
Nature Center plantings and the high quality prairies and savannas at
Shoe-Factory Road, Sand Ridge, and Thornton-Lansing Road Nature Preserves.
In 1977, volunteers offered to help out on half a dozen
little prairie remnants along the North Branch of the Chicago River. Superintendent
of Conservation Roland Eisenbeis thought long and hard about approving their
offer, but he was a dedicated conservationist, and the losses were increasingly
apparent in many Forest Preserve grasslands, so in August of 1977 he approved a
trial. The volunteers were given the okay to cut small brush with hand tools
and gather and plant seed in the areas cleared. He also asked Westcott to be
their mentor.
It was an auspicious time for such a beginning. Television
and newpapers often featured Dr. Betz’ prairie conservation efforts, and
environmentalism was flowering everywhere. A spirit of optimism reigned as the
national gloom of Viet Nam and racial conflict receded. Volunteers from the
surrounding communities adopted the new mission, and the brushy or formerly
mowed prairies increasingly burgeoned with life.
After an auspicious start to the North Branch experiment,
“disaster” struck in August of 1978(?). Staff from the North Branch maintenance
division mowed its prairies at the height of bloom. Although little long-term
harm was done, it seemed like at least the maintenance staff were not “with the
program.” A flood of phone calls and letters criticized this apparent reversal.
Those objecting included neighbors, conservationists including Dr. William Beecher
of the Chicago Academy of Sciences and, perhaps equally influentially, the Ward
Committeeman from the Sauganash area. Support for the volunteer initiative that
Eisenbeis had approved was impressive. The maintenance staff (not always on the
same page with the conservation staff) was chastened.
At this point, Eisenbeis decided that the program needed
more depth. He invited the highly respected Dr. Betz to tour the sites with
forest preserve staff heads: Sam Gabriel (chief forester), Joe Nevius
(landscape architect), John Mark (Superintendent of the North Branch
Maintenance Division), and Eisenbeis himself. Representing the new North Branch
Prairie Project (NBPP) were volunteers Larry Hodak and Steve Packard.
Betz endorsed the project and suggested expanding from just
small brush and seeds to full prairie restoration. The meeting established
ongoing relationships among all those present, which served the effort well for
many years. One result was increased mentoring by Chuck Westcott, who began to
supervise burns at the prairies. The entire leadership of the NBPP met from
time to time with Eisenbeis and other staff to improve management plans and
discuss progress. A key person who joined this process was Richard Buck, long
time Chief Landscape Architect for the preserves. Though Eisenbeis was the
ecologist and conservationist, Buck seemed to have more influence with staff
outside the nature centers. He also shared ideas on prairie and forest
restoration that dated back to his work with legendary preserves superintendent
Cap Sauers.
Restoration expanded substantially in 1978 when the Illinois
Nature Preserves Commission began to donate resources in support. It hired a
Steve Packard to recruit volunteers for the most important preserves in the six
counties of northeastern Illinois. The Nature Preserves Commission had already
been doing some of the management in the District’s eleven nature preserves,
and now Packard was able to provide more support to that effort. At that time,
Illinois had a crop of young biologists and conservationists who were “state of
the art” in ecosystem restoration. Packard joined in the training they all were
getting and soon was writing management plans, supervising burns, and
partnering with agency landowners in all six counties. Soon Cook County was
benefitting from the advances of this new field as staff from the state and
many counties worked on plans and developed techniques collaboratively. Key
people in Cook County at this time were Marlin Bowles, Jerry Paulson, and
Packard from the state along with Eisenbeis, Buck, Westcott, Strand, and
eventually Ralph Thornton in the newly created position of Land Manager.
In 1983, Packard left the Commission and joined The Nature
Conservancy (TNC), which recognized the opportunity to add resources to and
expand this good program. TNC staffers who worked on the expanding number of
Cook County restoration efforts in included Jill Riddell, Gill Moreland, Paul
Dye, and Laurel Ross. The Conservancy trained its staff intensively, flying
them to extended “field seminars” in Nebraska, California, Florida, and
wherever the most respected scientists and land managers could teach the best planning
and management. As with many agencies from coast to coast, the District’s contributed
to and benefited from principles and practices being developed by the
Conservancy.
Recognizing the need for more staff leadership, in 1995(?)
the District added two key people to Thornton’s Land Management staff. Kelly Treese
became Volunteer Coordinator and Steve Thomas became Restoration Ecologist.
Although each site had its own individual management plan (initially in the
form used by the Nature Preserves Commission but then moving toward the more simplified
and practical forms developed by the Conservancy), Thornton and Thomas saw the
need for county-wide plans and standards. Thomas developed the District’s first
standardized community descriptions (for its various types of woodlands,
grasslands and wetlands), with management protocols for each. Rather than
re-inventing the wheel at each site, why not list the major problems and treatments
appropriate to each community? Management plans could then cite the general
protocols and focus on the detail of whatever is special about each site. As
the Field Museum’s president Sandy Boyd later said about the work on Chicago
Wilderness, “Nothing is ever born full grown.” But gradually the discipline of
ecological restoration was maturing.
Throughout the eighties and nineties, the restoration
program grew, with staff support from both the Conservancy and the District.
Familiar landscapes were being gradually changed in sometimes dramatic ways,
and though public response had been overwhelmingly favorable, it seemed
important to add more outreach. Well-known writer, birder, and conservationist
Jerry Sullivan (formerly with TNC) joined the District staff and began
producing materials to support the growing biodiversity conservation
initiatives. Dave Eubanks (formerly with Openlands Project) joined the staff as
“Greenways Planner.”
In the mid nineties, highly publicized protests were
directed at the forest preserve conservation programs of DuPage, Lake, and Cook
Counties. The conflict had initially focused on the deer control programs of
these three counties, where the restoration efforts were most advanced. It
expanded to include criticism of tree and brush control, fire, and herbicides. This
“political headache” and “teachable moment” is described elsewhere, but part of
the fallout included divisions within the staff. Disappointed and frustrated by
perceived lack of support – Westcott, Thornton, Treese, Thomas, and Eubanks
took early retirement or resigned. With the untimely death of Sullivan, the
entire program needed to be rebuilt.
A new Volunteer Coordinator, William Koenig, made some
progress at re-establishing the staff support for the volunteer program, but it
was too much for one person. Yet he deserves great credit for restoring morale
and maintaining the collaborative nature of the program. He also engaged
Resource Management staffer, John McCabe, who gradually became the principal
trainer (and defender from staff members who had been at odds with the program).
Partner organizations also increasingly chipped in. The
Chicago Region Biodiversity Council (nick-named “Chicago Wilderness”) brought
together the region’s best conservation scientists, land managers, planners and
educators – dramatically improving the expertise available to staff and
volunteers alike. Key Chicago Wilderness member organizations included the
Field Museum, Openlands Project, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest
Service, National Park Service, Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, Chicago
Botanic Garden, Morton Arboretum, Chicago Academy of Sciences, Illinois
Department of Natural Resources, Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, Nature
Conservancy, Audubon, many universities, and all six of the region’s forest
preserve and conservation districts. Some critics continued to complain that
the science behind the conservation and restoration program was insufficient.
But now they were clearly criticizing one of the most impressive assemblages of
ecosystem management expertise on the planet, so the charges lost their
credibility for most.
Leadership from Nature Conservancy diminished (with changes
in national priorities) as it discontinued its volunteer staff in the region.
Packard and Ross went to the Audubon Society and Field Museum, expanding the
partnership through these locally larger institutions. Nature Conservancy conservation
scientists continued to advise.
A new organization, Friends of the Forest Preserves, also
began to help. In one of its first initiatives, it joined with the Audubon Society
and Sierra Club to organize an impressive “Land Audit” in which forty expert
botanists with forty trained assistants took data on trees, shrubs,
wildflowers, and grasses under protocols scientifically designed to assess the
ecological health of the 55,000 most “natural” acres of the preserves. The
study was supervised by Wayne Lampa, recently retired DuPage Forest Preserve
ecologist, who had supervised a similar study there.
The results, widely reported by area newspapers, showed that
the small areas under restoration were doing well, but that 68% of these
preserves’ natural land were in poor condition. A parallel study of FPD
management overall (conducted by Friends of the Forest Preserves and Friends of
the Parks and coordinated by Steven Christy, former head of planning for the
Lake County Forest Preserves) reflected the need for changes long recommended
by FPD staff. These studies had a major impact on the FPD Board, and president John
Stroger appointed an excellent Acting General Superintendent, Albert Pritchett,
who began needed reforms. Stroger then hired a new General Superintendent (City
of Chicago forestry chief Steve Bylina) who made major improvements. A Resource
Management Department was created and many new resource managers hired.
The election of FPD Board President Toni Preckwinkle brought
in many reform principles and Arnold Randall as General Superintendent. Substantial
funds were appropriated for contract restoration work (gradually increasing to
$5M in 2013) and the volunteer program got three new staffers (Kathy Wurster,
Mike Saxton, and Jonathan Schlessenger) to strengthen and expand that program.
The District (now calling itself the Forest
Preserves of Cook County) is poised to embark on new leadership initiatives with its “Next
Century Conservation Plan.”
This history past this 2014 post, of course. Parts are reflected in many subsequent posts.
[1] Natalie Bump
Vena, Ph.D./J.D. candidate, Northwestern University, personal communication,
December 12, 2013.
