A Prairie Rendezvous - Grand Prairie Friends · A Prairie Rendezvous 3 contributors to submit information; and working with the layout and design volunteer, Ray Meredith. Editor will

A Prairie Rendezvous

SPRING/SUMMER VOL. 14, NO. 2, 2012

GPF WELCOMES 2012 INTERNS by Jamie Ellis, Summer Internship Coordinator

T he Grand Prairie Friends summer internship pro-

gram has been providing hands-on natural areas stewardship oppor-tunities for young people in east-central Illinois since 1994. Sup-port to pay for the internship comes from the Annual Native Plant Sale proceeds, grant money from the IDNR’s Illinois Wildlife Preservation Fund, and a generous anonymous donor. Summer 2012 is nearly over, but rest assured that the 2012 summer interns have braved the heat and are working hard. We’re excited that Sarah Menning and Jenna Annis accepted the chal-lenge to help pull weeds, cut brush, and learn what it takes to help manage woodland and prairie natural areas. Sarah Menning Hi! My name is Sarah Menning, and I’m excited to be one of this year’s interns with Grand Prairie Friends! Being a recent graduate from the University of Illinois with a degree in natural resources and environmental sciences, I know this internship is a great opportunity for me to learn more about natural area stewardship and east-central Illinois flora.

I grew up in Crystal Lake, Illinois: an ordinary suburb of Chicago. Living in a suburb meant I wasn’t exactly surrounded by prairies and big forests, and my appreciation for the natural world didn’t take off until I got to col-lege. As I was about to apply to college, I can remember reading through a book of col-lege majors and think-ing that almost all of them sounded terribly boring and how they would simply trap me at a desk—all except environmental science. I loved the idea of working outdoors all the time, and I also loved the meaningful aspect of natural re-sources work. Ever since I began learning more about nature at the University of Illi-nois, my interest in it has grown. I got my first taste of real ecological resto-ration experience when I became an intern at the McHenry County Conservation District in 2011. The other summer interns and I learned a lot about native and in-

vasive plants, and I practiced res-toration techniques (mostly brush cutting and herbicide spraying) everyday. I can honestly say that summer was one of the best times of my life and has led to my desire to protect natural lands for a liv-ing. Following that summer, I became president of an ecological

restoration club on campus called Red Bison. Red Bison helps stew-ard and manage a few small natu-ral areas near campus. I also con-

(Continued on page 6)

H ow can you help Grand Prairie Friends grow and prosper as an

organization? What skills do you have that might contribute to conservation of natural areas in east-central Illinois? Call Jamie (217-244-5695, [email protected]) to discuss your future role with GPF. GPF Board A nine member Board of Directors governs Grand Prairie Friends, and GPF is looking for members who are interested and willing to step-up and lead this organization. The Board of Directors is responsible for raising and spending money in support of the or-ganization’s mission. GPF has working Board--since GPF has no staff, the Board not only makes policy, but members also carry out policy. The Board carries out this work at ten meetings each year, over email, and other times as needed. Each year the GPF membership elects or re-elects three Board members at the Fall Mem-bership meeting in September who serve three year terms.

Newsletter Editor Grand Prairie Friends seeks an orga-nized and motivated person to compile and edit articles for our quarterly newsletter, A Prairie Rendezvous. This newsletter serves as one source of in-formation to keep members and friends up to date on stewardship events and important news of the or-ganization. Duties include developing deadlines for submission of articles and information; sending out reminders for


2 A Prairie Rendezvous

A Prairie Rendezvous

P.O. Box 36 • Urbana, IL 61803-0036 Editor: Brenda Molano-Flores Assistant Editors: Jamie Ellis Production Designer: Ray Meredith A Prairie Rendezvous is a publication of Grand Prairie Friends for the restora-tion community of East Central Illinois. In February 2004, the membership of GPF voted to broaden the group’s Constitution and By-laws, bringing the missions of GPF and Prairie Grove Volunteers together through a merger of two groups. A Prairie Rendezvous is published quarterly. Article submissions should be sent electronically to the editor at [email protected] or by mail to the GPF P.O. Box (above). Member submissions are gladly welcomed. Grand Prairie Friends is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to natural community preservation, restoration, and education in East Central Illinois. Our stewards help coordinate volunteer workdays at native prairie, savanna, wetland, and woodland remnants. Inquiries and tax-deductible donations should be sent to the GPF P.O. Box (above).

www.grandprairiefriends.org GPF Board of Directors (term ends) Jamie Ellis, President (2012) Fred Delcomyn, Treasurer (2012) Ansel Anderson (2014) Terry Rathgeber (2014) Jim Payne (2012) Derek Liebert (2012) VACANT (2013) Gail Snowdon (2013) VACANT (2014) Board meetings are regularly scheduled for the fourth Monday of each month (except August and December) at 5:30 PM in the I-Building (1816 S. Oak St., Champaign) GPF Committees For information on volunteering and getting involved with any committees, please contact the following: Membership & Volunteerism: Brenda Molano-Flores Stewardship: VACANT Education: VACANT Finance: Fred Delcomyn Publicity: Derek Liebert Land Acquisition: Dan Olson and Jim Payne Fund Raising: Derek Liebert, Terry Rathgeber, and Jamie Ellis Submission Deadlines

Summer Issue (June, July, Aug.): May 1

Fall Issue (Sept., Oct. , Nov.): Aug. 1

Winter Issue (Dec., Jan. 2013 , Feb. 2013): Nov. 1

Printed on Recycled Paper

Volunteer

Opportunity by Jamie Ellis, President, GPF

mailto:[email protected]


contributors to submit information; and working with the layout and design volunteer, Ray Meredith. Editor will also communicate regularly with the Board of Directors and Dan Olson who sends out an email notice of a new newsletter once it is posted to the GPF website. Person must have own computer and be able to communicate by email. Committees GPF has six committees to help the Board carry out the work of the organization--Membership and Vol-unteerism, Stewardship, Publicity, Fund Raising, Land Acquisition, Education, and Finance. Right now the Stewardship Committee Chair is vacant. What does this person do? GPF seeks a self-

motivated and organized person to oversee and co-ordinate stewardship activities first at the seven sites GPF owns and then at other areas GPF volunteers help steward. The Stewardship Chair will assist vol-unteer site stewards with planning and organizing work days, help draft stewardship plans, help over-see equipment use and maintenance, coordinate and plan prescribed burns, and help organize the annual steward’s luncheon. Another vacancy is on the Finance Committee. This committee is charged with overseeing the fi-nance of Grand Prairie Friends including creation of a budget, verifying income and expenses, and in-vestments. This committee meets three to four times a year.

(Continued from page 2)

EMBARRAS RIDGES OPENING EVENT by Jamie Ellis

W ith plenty of sunshine, a gentle breeze, and pleas-

ant temperatures, friends gath-ered to celebrate Grand Prairie Friends’ acquisition of 141 acres of forested land south of Charles-

ton, IL. About 80 people came out on the morning of Saturday June 2 to enjoy the weather and experi-ence the beauty of this property.

Jamie Ellis, GPF Board President, gave some brief remarks about the process of raising money to buy this property and to give proper thanks to the many, many people who gave money or time to make

this acquisition a reality. GPF sincerely thanks Dan Olson and Terry Rathgeber who along with Jamie Ellis helped plan the event. David Mott and Mary Kay Solecki gave their time to lead a few nature hikes into the forested ridges and ravines.

Jenna Annis came early to help set up tables and chairs, and Ansel Anderson directed traffic. The ceremony that morning

was brief, but we provide here a transcript of some meaningful and moving words written and deliv-


GPF members and friends gather to celebrate the protection of 141 acres of forested land on June 2.

photo by Rob Kanter

Beverly Foote tells the crowd of GPF supporters that the protection of Embarras Ridges means protection of biodiversity in Coles County.

photo by Rob Kanter


FALL 2012

Volunteer Stewardship Activities 2012 Urbana Park District Workdays Stewardship Saturdays: Volunteering is a great way to learn more about lo-cal natural areas while providing some much needed assistance in their care. Remove invasive plants, improve trails, plant native trees and flowers, and assist with general clean-up. Please dress accordingly. Tools, gloves, ins-truction, and refreshments provided. Let us know you'll be attending by calling 384-4062 in advance. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Groups welcome.

workdays

For Meadowbrook Park: meet at the parking lot just south of Windsor and Race Streets. For Busey Woods: meet at the Anita Purves Nature Center - 1505 N. Broadway. For Perkins Prairie: meet at the Dog Park on Perkins Road - ½ mile east of Cunningham Ave. For Weaver Park: meet at the intersection of Main Street and Smith Road.

UPCOMING EVENTS Seed Collecting September 22, 9 AM, Loda Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve


Grand Prairie Friends

Activity Calendar

APNC (Anita Purves Nature Center) is located at 1505 N. Broadway Ave. in Urbana.

N A T U R A L R E S O U R C E S STUDIES ANNEX: 1910 Griffith Drive, Champaign. Griffith Drive runs south from St. Mary's Road just east of the Illinois Central railroad viaduct (next to St. Mary's Cemetery).

Workday reminders and updates will be posted on the ecostewards email list.

Please leave your pets at home. Pets are not allowed on Nature Preserves. Activities such as pre-scribed burnings may endanger pets, even if they are on leashes or otherwise supervised.

Please wear clean clothes and boots as a general precaution. After a workday wire brush or scrape lug soles clean. Also, do not wear the same clothes that were used to visit a site with mature exotic seed into another site before laundering them. This is to avoid becoming unwitting carriers of the very invasive species that we are trying to control!

September 8 9-11:00 a.m. - Busey Woods 1-3:00 p.m. - Weaver Park September 22 9-11:00 a.m. - Meadowbrook Park 1-3:00 p.m. - Perkins Road Wet Prairie October 13 9-11:00 a.m. - Busey Woods 1-3:00 p.m. - Weaver Park

October 27 9-11:00 a.m. - Meadowbrook Park 1-3:00 p.m. - Perkins Road Wet Prairie November 10 9-11:00 a.m. - Busey Woods November 24 9-11:00 a.m. - Meadowbrook Park 1-3:00 p.m. - Perkins Road Wet Prairie


ered by Beverly Foote. What Embarras Ridges Means to Me Address delivered by Bev-erly Foote to crowd gath-ered at Embarras Ridges on June 2, 2012 My husband, Dan, and I moved to Charleston in 1965 so he could teach chem-istry at Eastern Illinois University. Looking for nearby natural places for family outings

and picnics, we soon discovered three good places. They were places such as Walnut Point State Park, upstream of Charleston on the Em-barras River; Lake-view Park, an im-poundment on the Embarras River near Charleston; and Fox Ridge State Park, downstream of Charleston on the Em-barras River. Clearly, the public places of natural interest were on the Embarras Riv-er.

The Embarras Riv-er is a welcome contrast in a county (i.e. Coles) that is mostly flat, squared off in mile-sided parcels, and culti-vated with corn and soybeans. Its curvy course cuts a valley through the terminal moraine formed by the last advance of the Wis-consin Glacier. Only in Coles County, where the moraine exists, does the Embarras River

valley exist. The valley con-sists of the river itself, its floodplain, and the adjacent forested ridges and ravines. In the lat 1960’s, the US Army Corps of Engineers thought this would be a good place to build

a reservoir. They proposed to dam the Embarras River neara the Coles-Cumberland line. The river would have become Lincoln Lake—a reservoir extend-ing north to the Coles-Douglas county line. There would be no longer be an Embarras River in Coles County. There would be a

body of water with widely fluctuat-

ing water levels and steep eroding banks. Think Lake Shelbyville. There are still folks around, myself include, who opposed the Lin-coln Lake pro-ject. When I gave presenta-tions describing the undesireable

outcomes of the project, some-times someone would ask me what my vision was for the Em-barras River. The answer was a naturally free flowing river and its accompanying wooded ridge and ravine valley. The project was deauthorized by Congress in 1971. Since then, Woodyard Con-servation Area adjacent to Lake-view Park has been dedicated as a Land and Water Reserve, War-bler Woods, adjacent to Embar-ras Ridges has been protected as a Nature Preserve, and at least two other properties on the river are being privately protected.



There’s joy to be found at Em-barras Ridges. This young man found a snake!

photo by Rob Kanter

Photo by Rob Kanter

Smooth Earthsnake - an uncommon and interesting species. photo by Rob Kanter

Jamie Ellis along with Beverly Foote, Bruce Kamarzin, and Jana Mason get ready to official-ly open GPF’s newest preserve.

Jana Mason, who a made significant contribution to protect Embarras Ridges, briefly addresses the crowd.

photo by Rob Kanter

ducted research in two ecology labs in the environ-mental science department at U of I. One study in-vestigated a relationship between soil microbes and the shrinking of Illinois hill prairies due to invading shrubs. The other study concerned the effects of fire and grazing management techniques on Grasshopper Sparrows in grasslands. During my senior year of college, I gained experience growing and caring for plants working for the Plant Biology Greenhouses. I’m unsure what my future beyond this summer holds, but I’m open to whatever opportunities come my way! Hopefully involving natural land manage-ment, of course. I can’t wait to put all the knowledge and skills I’ve gained over these past four years to good use and do what I love everyday. From my experience here with Grand Prairie Friends, I hope to learn to identify as many plant species as I can, as well as the best techniques for controlling the invasive ones. Prior to starting this internship, everyone who I told about it would say something like, “Sounds like hard work!” but that didn’t scare me. The harder the work, the more satisfaction I get out of it at the end of the day. Be-sides, everyone knows that women are stronger than men! I’m very glad to be contributing to preserv-ing the precious natural areas Grand Prairie Friends stewards, and can already tell that I will look back on this experience fondly. A big thank you goes out to everyone from GPF that I’ve worked with and will work with for teaching and in-spiring me so much! Jenna Annis Hello. My name is Jenna Annis. I started working as an intern for Grand Prairie Friends in June 2012. I am a senior at Eastern Illinois University, majoring in biological sciences with a

concentration in botany. I live on a family farm in Mattoon, IL. I have lived in the country all my life, so I spent most of my childhood outdoors on the farm or exploring in the neighboring woods by our house. As a result, I grew up with a strong curiosity and appreciation for nature. Everything from ani-mals to plants to weather was interesting to me. I kept that interest going into school, and I knew go-ing into college that I wanted my future career to revolve around studying or preserving some aspect of nature. In my sophomore year of college, I had the opportunity to take a botany course, and it did-n’t take long for me to realize that I was especially fascinated with plants. I couldn’t believe how an organism so seemingly immobile could carry out such complex and intricate processes. I wanted to learn more about how plants function and survive in such diverse habitats in which they are found. I am currently involved in seed ecology research at EIU, focusing on seed germination of plants such as Pen-stemon tubaeflorus (White wand beardtongue) and Pinguicula ionantha (Godfrey’s butterwort). I am very excited that I have the opportunity to show my research this year at the Botanical Society of Ameri-ca Meeting in Columbus, Ohio. I will be graduating

from EIU in December 2012, and I plan to pursue a master’s degree in botany. Last summer, I had the opportunity to do an in-ternship for the Partnership for Healthy Forests Pro-gram, recently launched by the the Coles County Soil and Water Conservation District. This program was aimed to restore and pro-tect natural woodlands throughout Coles County, by removing invasive plant species that may decrease native plant and wildlife diversity. Living near woodlands myself, I was already familiar with inva-





sive plants and their ability to devastate woodland diversity, so I was very motivated to help with this woodland restoration program. During the internship, I was able to meet with many landowners and help to show them how to identify and properly remove invasive plant species in their woodlands. It was very fulfilling to help people that were so excited and passion-ate about preserving their wood-lands. As a student, I do think it is important to seek out intern-ships, so that one may be more prepared after graduating. Through my internship last sum-

mer, I learned the importance of preserving natural areas in Illi-nois, such as woodlands. This was the type of job that I not on-ly enjoyed, but also found fulfill-ment in, knowing the difference I was making. When I heard about the Grand Prairie Friends and their internship that was available, I knew this was an or-ganization I could contribute to and learn so much from. I see this internship as an opportunity to expand my knowledge of nat-ural areas in Illinois and to help preserve and protect one of the rarest ecosystems in Illinois. The Importance of Volunteers

The summer interns put in many hours pulling weeds, cutting brush, and collecting seeds, but the internship would not be very meaningful without the dedica-tion and time put in by GPF vol-unteers and natural resource professionals. If you’re someone who has or will spend time teaching the summer interns how to run a brushcutter, spray Canada thistle, or identify rare plant species, then GPF sincerely thanks you. If you’re someone who would like to be involved in this program, then give Jamie Ellis a call (217-244-5695). Teaching a young person about the wonders of the natural world is a reward unto itself.


Come join Grand Prairie Friends and Illinois Prairie Wild Ones to collect seeds from prairie plants to help with the expansion of restoration of one of the region’s best prairie preserves. Bring gloves, hand clippers, and drinking water. Contact Beckie Green ([email protected]) for directions. Fall Membership Meeting and Board Elec-tion September 28, 7 PM, Anita Purves Nature Center (1505 N. Broadway, Urbana). Our special guest speaker will be Dr. May Beren-baum, professor and head of entomology. Dr. Ber-enbaum is passionate about the study and conserva-tion of insects. The evening will start with a dessert potluck and a short business meeting immediately followed by our guest speaker. The meeting includes election of new board members. You are invited to bring a dessert to share. Eating utensils and drinks provided. Public welcome. Bringing Nature Home October 15, 7 PM, Heartland Community College's

Astroth Community Education Center's Auditori-um, Bloomington. Illinois Prairie Wild Ones with help from Grand Prairie Friends and others are excited to announce a special lecture by Dr. Douglas Tallamy. An ento-mologist by training, Dr. Tallamy makes a strong argument for the need to conserve wildlife (especially insects) by landscaping our homes with native plants. Rattlesnake Master Run for the Prairie November 4, 9 AM, Meadowbrook Park, Urbana Come out and support Grand Prairie Friends by participating in this 5 and 10 K fun run and walk around the restored prairie at Meadowbrook Park. Check the website for details or contact Jesse Kurylo ([email protected]) or Derek Liebert ([email protected]) for more info. Board Meetings are held the fourth Monday of each month (except August and December) at 5:30 P.M. usually in the Forbes Building (1816 S. Oak St., Champaign). Contact Jamie Ellis to confirm.

mailto:[email protected]


W hat a grand day Satur-day May 12! Hundreds

of native prairie plants available for sale, and many, many happy gardeners who went home to restore a bit of nature to their landscape.

So far, it looks like the 2012 Native Plant Sale was a success. This annual event raises aware-ness about the importance of native plants in the home land-scape, provides a place for folks in east-central Illinois to buy na-tive plant species, and raises money to help pay for the GPF summer internship program. Over 50 species of plants native to the tallgrass prairie were avail-able along with a few woodland and woodland edge species. Grand Prairie Friends once again shared planning resources and space at Lincoln Square in Urbana with the Champaign-

Urbana Business and Professional Women’s Club, CU Herb Socie-ty, and a few other individuals and plant focused organizations. Thank You Volunteers An event like this doesn’t happen by itself. Seeds need to collected, cleaned, stratified, and planted. Seedlings need to be transplanted into new pots. Postcards remind-ers sent and space for sale se-cured. Jamie Ellis ran the show (or thinks he ran the show). GPF would like to particularly thank Jesse Kurylo who coordinated with the other plant groups to secure space at Lincoln Square. Jesse also helped coordinate set-ting up plants the evening before the sale. Beth Wolgemuth came through once again to make sure

postcard reminders were sent. Ed Wilhite performed masterful-ly as treasurer for the day. Diane Wilhite and Gary Russell practi-cally didn’t miss a transplanting night, and Gary filled in as leader


NATIVE PLANT SALE by Jamie Ellis

Jesse Kurylo provide much of the logistical support to make the sale a success.

Photo by Jamie Ellis

Joan Lane talking about the beauty and benefits of native plants in the home landscape. Photo by Jamie Ellis


It is forty years later and now we have the wonderful pro-spect of having a naturally free flowing Embarras River and an-other protected piece of its adja-cent wooded ridges and ravines in place thanks to Grand Prairie

Friends. We are well on our way to protecting the Embarras River valley for migrating birds, frogs, ferns, sedges, orchids, threat-ened and endangered species—all the bits and pieces throughout its course through Coles County. I never thought I would live

long enough to see all this hap-pen. But here it is. It means a lot to me and, I think to you too. Editor’s note: Beverly Foote made a significant donation to protect Em-barras Ridges in loving memory of her sister, Brenda Dreisow.



Volunteers 2012 Annual Plant Sale

Carl Alstetter Karen Andsager Irene Andsager Zoe Andsager Ann Bentley Eileen Borgia Samantha

Carpenter Kena Jo

Chapman Sam Chavez Connie

Cunningham Mike Daab Duane Dassow James Ellis Larry Eyre Jim Fay Meredith Fay Sandy Finnerty Leon Follmer Beverly Foote Jim Hamilton Bill Handel

Bruce Hannon Alan Hays Kerry Helms Matt Hohmann Phil Hult Stacy James Stefan Johnsrud Rhonda Jurinak Jesse Kurylo Lex Lane John Lane Linda Lauchner

John Marlin Nohra Mateus-

Pinilla Sandra McVicker

-Rosenfield Bridgette Moen Judy Moller Jim Payne Terry Rathgeber Beverly

Rauchfuss Alan Rider

Gary Russell Michael Sczerba Suzanne Smith Jake Smith Rob Stanton Bob Vaiden Hilary Valentine Ed Wilhite Diane Wilhite Mary Beth

Willems

one night when Jamie couldn’t be there. Jim and Meredith Fay pro-vided those wonderful labels. Phil Hult once again brought a truck-load of plants to donate, and he knowledgeably answered many questions from inquisitive garden-ers. The list goes on. If we forgot someone, we sincerely apologize. Your Opportunity The annual Native Plant Sale is held the Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend each spring, and it’s an important part of the identity of

Grand Prairie Friends. The sale is only one day each year, but prepa-ration for the sale goes on almost year round. Do you see your name on the list above? Bravo to you. Do you not see your name? Should it be there? GPF needs people to make the sale a reality. Not just one or two people, but a team of dedicat-ed volunteers. Jamie can’t or won’t be leading this endeavor for-ever. Give him a call (217-244-5695) and see how you can help make the 2013 plant sale a success.



A Prairie Rendezvous - Grand Prairie Friends · A Prairie Rendezvous 3 contributors to submit information; and working with the layout and design volunteer, Ray Meredith. Editor will

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