Summer 2000

A large variety of grassland birds call this restored prairie their home

Lake County, Illinois

Grigsby Prairie is a prairie built from scratch. Only 13 years ago the 38-acre site was a fallow field, impoverished of the prairie forbs and grasses that most likely flourished there in pre-settlement times. But today the prairie is a kaleidoscope of more than 100 species of native plants that provide habitat for nesting grassland birds and a living laboratory for restorationists and the local community.

The critical ingredients of this dramatic transformation have been three-fold: a generous and public-spirited landowner, a local conservation group with a vision, and scores of dedicated volunteers.

In 1983, a Barrington Hills resident approached Barrington-based Citizens for Conservation (CFC) wondering if a sizable portion of her valuable property might have potential as a nature reserve. She liked the open character of the field, hoped that it might harbor a variety of flowers, and loved grassland birds.

CFC and, particularly, its restoration specialist, Tom Vanderpoel, recognized an extraordinary opportunity. Vanderpoel was well acquainted with patches of native prairie that lingered in the area, much of it along the Chicago & Northwestern railroad tracks. He also knew that prairie remnants were disappearing quickly and hoped for a sizable place to sow seed from those remnants in order to perpetuate prairie plants. The Barrington Hills site, with its rolling topography, was perfect.

An initial donation of 25 acres to CFC got the project rolling. By the summer of 1986, Vanderpoel was training volunteer seed-pickers, most of whom were entirely new to prairie plants, to recognize and collect seed, from porcupine grass in late June to little bluestem in late October. Seed-picking outings have continued every year since, at the rate of two to three per week in the harvest season. Ninety-five percent of the seed has come from within 15 miles of the site.

Volunteers sowed the seed each spring, with mixes assembled according to topography and soil type. When they got news of pending destruction of sites with native plants, they conducted plant rescues and brought species such as yellow stargrass, prairie phlox and bastard toadflax to a new home at Grigsby. "The spring flora are the hardest to get seed from," explains Vanderpoel, "so those rescued plugs were especially important and now are producing seed we can collect."

"We’ve made a major effort with little bluestem, porcupine grass, and dropseed," he adds. "Our goal is to restore as much native plant diversity as possible, from wet prairie to savanna to dry prairie." He’s especially proud of success with spring flora, guessing that as many as 5,000 shooting stars now grow at Grigsby. "The prairie has come along more quickly than we hoped."

Another major goal is providing habitat for migratory birds and breeding grassland species. Several prairie potholes have been added to the site, thanks to collaboration with the US Fish & Wildlife Service and mitigation agreements. These potholes attract a variety of ducks and wading birds in the spring and provide spawning habitat for hundreds of leopard frogs and toads. Grassland birds that breed regularly at Grigsby Prairie include grasshopper and savanna sparrows, Eastern meadowlark, and bobolink. Last year, Vanderpoel estimates that nine pairs of bobolinks may have nested there. Nest boxes regularly attract three or four pairs of bluebirds.

Last year volunteers, including garden clubs, church groups, and high school students, devoted more than 755 hours to seed collection. This year, a "Pennies for the Prairie" project at local elementary schools contributed funds for equipment. A mowed trail winds through the preserve, which is in its most splendid form from July 4 through October.

To help out or simply to walk in the wild, call Citizens for Conservation at (847) 382-7283.

–Wendy Paulson