Urban Nature Needs Special Care Renewing the Promise of the Forest Preserves of Cook County for...

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Urban Nature Needs Special Care

Renewing the Promise of the Forest Preserves of Cook County for People and Nature

Chicago Region

Forest Preserve District of

Cook County

• Established in 1914

• 68,000 total acres protected • 55,000 acres in a natural state

Forest Preserve Mission: ...to acquire... and hold lands containing one or more natural forests or

parts thereof or lands connecting such forests or parts thereof, or lands capable of being forested, for the purpose of protecting and preserving the flora, fauna, and scenic beauties within such district, and 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, for the purpose of the education, pleasure, and recreation of the public...

From the Illinois Enabling Act

Woodland sunflowers bloom in an oak savanna

People Worked to Protect Nature…

• Many people, including Jens Jensen and Dwight Perkins, had the vision to protect nature for future generations.

• They thought the job was done, the land was protected and nature would carry on …

Jens Jensen

Illinois Prairie Club circa 1900

Dwight Perkins

Protection Wasn’t Enough . . .

Buckthorn has killed off the wildflowers, grasses and eventhe tree seedlings.

• Native plants and animals were disappearing

• Open areas were becoming impassable

• New plants began replacing others over large areas

Our “protected” preserves began to look radically different.

The very things we wanted to The very things we wanted to protect were disappearingprotect were disappearing

WHY?

Why was “protection” not enough?

• Fragmentation• Human population increase• Lack of human set fire• Introduced plant and animal species• Changed hydrology• Changed human relationship with nature

Morton Arboretum scientists

in the field.

The conditions have radically changed.

Humans in a sea of nature

Land Cover cir. 1800

Land Cover cir. 2000

Nature in a sea of humans

How Conditions Changed:Lack of Fire

• Our ecosystems developed through time with human set fire

• Woodlands, wetlands, savannas, and prairies need fire to keep shrubs and trees in balance

Fire supports the growth of woodland grasses and

flowers. Lack of fire allows shrubs to invade this savanna

How Conditions Changed:Lack of Fire

Pale purple coneflower seeds germinate faster with smoke!

Without fire,

Without fire, these sun loving flowers will not survive

Fire maintains the prairie as home forthe threatened Franklin’s Ground Squirrel

Lack of fire allows invasive buckthorn to grow

• Crowd out native plants and animals

• Are “junk food” for wildlife

• After outright destruction, is the most critical threat to natural lands

How Conditions Changed: Introduced Non-native Species

Garlic Mustard snuffed out all the wildflowersOriental Bittersweet

will smother trees

Purple Loosestrife destroys a wetland

• Unique Communities• Homes for Rare Animals and Plants• Reduce Climate Change• Protects Water Quality & Reduces

Flooding• Is More Family Friendly

Why the Health of Urban Nature Matters

Why the Health of Urban Nature Matters

Unique Communities• Continental meeting place of woodland, savanna,

prairie, and wetland communities• Oak Savanna - more endangered than the rainforest• Animal and plant communities not found anywhere

else on earth

Forest preserves are home to carnivorous sundews and sand loving cactus!

Why the Health of Urban Nature Matters

The greatest number of rare animals and plants find a home here in Northeast Illinois.

Upland Sandpiper Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly Henslow’s Sparrow

Franklin’s Ground Squirrel Blanding’s Turtle Snowy Egret

Why the Health of Urban Nature Matters

Climate ChangeHealthy

Preserves:• Capture

carbon at many levels

• Lock more carbon into the soil

• Are more resilient

Illustration: Chicago Wilderness Illustration: Heidi Natura, Conservation Research Institute

Why the Health of Urban Nature Matters

Water Quality and FloodingHealthy Preserves:• Don’t have soil erosion• Allow water to soak into the soil• Keep pollution out of rivers, lakes and

streams• Clean the water before it enters lakes

Dense shade killed off the wildflowers and grasses that anchor the soil. With every rain, soil washes into

the river.

Why the Health of Urban Nature Matters

Family Friendly

How do we ensure that the Preserves are healthy and continue

to provide all the benefits just described?

We must restore the conditions that support healthy nature in

our Preserves!

The Conditions for Healthy Nature

Prairie, almost full sunlight0-10% canopy

Savanna, sunny with some shade 10-50% canopy

Woodland, dappled sunlight 50-80% canopy

Forest, less light 80-100% canopy

© Paul Nelson, The Tallgrass Restoration Handbook

Controlling Invasives and Restoring Structure

Collecting and Planting Seeds

Renewing the Promise.People and Nature - Working Together

Again

Returning Fire

Monitoring the Results

People and Nature - Working Together

Prescribed Fire• A carefully planned and managed fire is

conducted to achieve a goal - healthy communities for plants and wildlife.

• Conducted only under specific safety standards and weather conditions by trained personnel.

People and Nature - Working Together

Prescribed FireNo other method accomplishes

everything that fire can

Pulling Garlic Mustard

Cutting down buckthorn

Treating cut stumps with

herbicide

People and Nature - Working Together

Control Invasives & Restore Structure

Seed collecting in a remnant prairie

People and Nature - Working Together

Collecting and Planting Seeds

This

People and Nature - Working Together

Lacking fire this oak woodland became choked with buckthorn.

All the ground vegetation had been killed by buckthorn.

With Buckthorn Gone… an

Oak Woodland is Revealed

With increased sunlight and seeding with native plants,this area is recovering.

Three Years Later, the Woodland is

Thriving

With the resumption of management the number of plants

and animals increases though time. The amount of human effort decreases -

community health increases

By keeping humans and nature interacting through the

ecological management our Preserves, we will ensure their

health for our children and their children in perpetuity.

Monitoring the Results of the Work

• Are we restoring the conditions that support healthy nature?

• How are species composition and habitat structure changing?

• How are species of conservation concern doing?

White Oak Plots

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

3-6 7-9 10-12 13-19 20+

DBH (in)

RIV

White Oak

Red Oak

Sugar Maple

Black Cherry

Ash species

Oak Health in the Forest Preserves

Oaks are being replaced by other species and are not reproducing

Not a single seedling white oak was found

Data from the 2007 Cook County Land Audit, Audubon - Chicago Region

Common Birds Now In Decline:

Percent Decline Since 1967

97%

87% 52%

Case Study- How People Are Helping Birds

WatchList Status, by Habitat, of 700 Native Birds in the Continental U.S.

Wetland

Grassland

Shrubland

Woodland Multiple

Stable Threatened Imperiled

Spring Creek Forest Preserves

Restoring Declining Bird Populations

Restoring Declining Bird Populations

Grassland Bird Response

How You Can HelpVolunteer Roles

Just Show Up! • Seed Collector & SorterHerbicide Applicator • Workday Leader • Monitor

How You Can HelpWildlife and Plant Monitoring

Bird Blitzes • Frog Surveys • Dragonfly Monitoring • Plants of ConcernLand Audit • Butterfly Monitoring

Join a monitoring group to:• Learn about the plants and

animals you love• Monitor their abundance

and diversity• Track their health over time

www.habitatproject.org

280volunteer

s

170volunteers

220volunteers

40volunteer

s

200volunteer

s

150 volunteers

100volunteers

Hundreds of trained citizen scientists collect data annually

How You Can HelpMonitoring Volunteers

How You Can Help Busse Woods

JOIN US!

June 14, 10 AM -1PM Busse Woods Grove 16

Families Welcome

No Experience Needed

We provide all the tools

How You Can HelpBusse Woods

Monitoring volunteersMonitoring Volunteers

Special Event Volunteers

Stewardship Volunteers

We are the stewards. We can choose to help or we can choose to do nothing and

watch plants and animals continue to disappear.

More InformationForest Preserve District of Cook County, Volunteer

Resources (773) 631-1790

Douglas Chien, Sierra Club(312) 251-1680 x2 doug.chien@sierraclub.org

Benjamin Cox, Friends of the Forest Preserves(312) 356-9990 benjamin@fotfp.org

Justin Pepper, Audubon - Chicago Region(847) 328-1250 x12 jpepper@audubon.org

Matt Haas, Busse Woods Volunteer Steward(414) 405-8090 bussewoodsvolunteer@gmail.com www.bussewoods.net

www.fpdccVolunteers.org

www.habitatproject.org

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