Summer 2003

Neighbors Save an Ancient Prairie
by Anna Sachdeva and Dennis Nyberg

The Woodworth Prairie may appear to many as an ordinary plot of vacant land penned behind a chain-link fence. Most drivers might catch a glimpse of tall grasses and flowers near the '70s-style visitors center as they rush along busy Milwaukee Avenue through Glenview, Illinois. But these few acres are virgin land, land that was never plowed or heavily grazed, land that still contains original prairie plants and animals.

Whittled down over a century and a half to an area roughly the size of five football fields, the Woodworth Prairie is one of the last true remnants of the vast prairie that once covered 85 percent of Cook County. This is the story of one of the first successful efforts to preserve a prairie.

Though the Peacock and Long farming families, who owned this land from 1843 to 1953, were among the settlers who converted Illinois' vast grasslands to farms and residences, they kept a ten-acre patch of their land in its natural state. The black-soil tallgrass prairie must have been important to at least a few members of both families to have escaped the plow. The ten-acre plot did slim slightly during that period, however, when the construction of Greenwood Avenue in 1933 took a strip from the prairie's eastern border.

The prairie was appreciated by more than just the Peacocks and Longs. Northwestern University Professor Ruth Paintin published a list of plants in the 1929 Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Sciences. She recorded 149 species, 15 of which were nonnative. Ecologists still consult this important list as they work to understand changes in the plants of the prairie. In 1949, another Northwestern professor, Orlando Park, studied beetles there. But scientists weren't the only ones who appreciated the prairie. Neighboring youths and adults did as well, and that proved important in eventually saving it.

In May, the tallgrass prairie is six inches to one foot tall (above). Dr. Dennis Nyberg is on all fours. Photo by Paul Francuch.   By August, big bluestem reaches up toward the nearby golden arches. Photo by Hank Erdmann.

After World War II, appreciating real estate values led to the transfer of ownership from the Peacock family to real estate developer Arthur T. McIntosh & Co. in 1953. The prairie's prime location on Milwaukee Avenue seemed ideal for commercial development, but the prairie lost its first four northerly acres to a housing development in 1957. At about that time, commercial interests developed the southwest corner, where the current Interpretation Center sits, first as a go-cart track and later as a miniature golf course. Seeing these developments energized citizens who loved the dwindling prairie to try to save it.

Bernice Popelka, Marion Cole, and Ev Tyner stepped forward to lead a collection of concerned citizens who formed the Peacock Prairie Preservation Project in 1965. The committee tried to raise community awareness of the prairie's biological value by distributing flyers, publishing articles in the suburban and city newspapers, and holding fundraisers. They also attempted to enlist the support of government agencies and nongovernmental charitable organizations.

The primary problem the group had to overcome was the economic value of the property. When the group asked McIntosh to donate the property, he replied in a Chicago Tribune article, "I can't afford to be a philanthropist. I must be realistic." The group then focused on what it saw as the only solution to preserve the prairie: raising money — approximately $200,000 for the remaining 5.14 acres — to purchase the land.

The committee sought assistance from many sources. First, they contacted the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. The general superintendent, Charles "Cap" Sauers, felt that the plot was doomed by its location and small size. Sauers' membership on the state conservation advisory committee also influenced the State of Illinois to withhold help. The committee then approached the Glenview Park District, from which they received only qualified support. Meanwhile, Dr. Robert Betz and Marion Cole published a new flora inventory. They found that most prairie plant species had persisted since Paintin's list.

Violet prairie sorrel. Photo by Carol Freeman.

While seeking financial support, the committee helped restore the biological integrity of the prairie. In the spring of 1966, they organized Glenview citizens around a cleanup campaign. A large group cleared four truckloads of trash with the help of young volunteers and a donated truck. The removal of the trash helped the prairie vegetation recover and helped to solidify community support for the effort, but other challenges loomed.

In the summer of 1966, McIntosh leased the land to an outdoor amusement concession. The leaseholder began mowing parts of the precious prairie for an archery range and a batting cage. After pleading successfully with the mowers to stop, an impassioned Bernice Popelka and Ev Tyner immediately contacted Jeffrey Short, president of the Openlands Project. With six other conservationists, Short appealed to McIntosh to discontinue further destruction of the prairie. A tour of the site and a discussion of its history, led by botanists and community members, impressed the real estate developer. He immediately halted further disturbance of the property, despite the fact that the change of lease cost him money. Although this was a great victory for the Peacock Prairie Project, they still needed money to purchase the land.

Among other fundraising activities, the group sold prairie plants at the Chicago Flower and Garden Show. But at the end of 1966, the committee had only $168 in the bank. Though local community organizations, citizens, and even influential public figures supported the prairie's preservation, none provided the large donation that was needed. After months of tireless campaigning, Jeffrey Short and Gunnar Peterson of the Openlands Project finally secured a pledge from the Chicago Community Trust for the entire private share in 1967. The Glenview Park District did not come through with funding, so Short met with Norman Parker, chancellor of the new University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Circle, and persuaded UIC to apply for federal funds from the Land and Water Conservation Act (LAWCON).

UIC Professor Al Rouffa, who later became the first director of the prairie, applied for and received the LAWCON grant for the university's half of the purchase price of $210,000. On May 28, 1968, UIC obtained title to the land as a research center and a place for the public to enjoy and learn about the prairie. UIC built an interpretive center and parking lot on the already disturbed portion of the prairie with funds donated by the family of John W. Leslie, who was the great-grandson of James Woodworth, an early mayor of Chicago and U. S. representative from Illinois. Opened to the public in 1972, the prairie was renamed the James Woodworth Prairie Preserve to honor the Leslie family's contribution.

Because of decisions made over the course of 100 years and the impassioned preservation efforts of the sixties, residents of the suburbs north of Chicago have easy access to a piece of Class A original Illinois prairie, complete with prairie crayfish and prairie cicadas. But maintaining the habitat in a state suitable for prairie plants and animals requires continuing struggle. Invasive species must be detected and removed, and the prairie must be burned periodically. Managers have burned various parts of the property in 24 of the 35 years UIC has owned it. Without fire, the prairie would slowly turn into a thicket of shrubs and trees. Fortunately, the neighbors of the prairie have cooperated in this effort. They, too, appreciate the preservation of natural heritage in their backyard.

Anna Sachdeva is an undergraduate English major at UIC and is pursuing a career in journalism. She studied the movement to preserve the Woodworth Prairie for her honors project. Dennis Nyberg is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at UIC and director of the Woodworth Prairie.