|
|
|
|
|
Note: This is the year end review and a very long email packed with exciting month by month recaps. Some browsers will clip this email. Please click the "View the entire message" toggle at the bottom left corner to view the complete journal.
|
|
|
Snail shell embedded in Slough ice
|
|
2019, The Year Of Outreach, Education & Restoration
In December we like to pause and reflect back on the things that we have accomplished over the year. Like every year, 2019 was very productive and a witness to several landmark events in spite of several challenges. Outreach and education surfaced as very important trends in the PHNRC Culture and as a result, we learned and we grew.
We saw city budget cutbacks and changes to the habitat based on climate change. Some species disappeared under the all too frequent heavy rains and persistent flooding while others filled the voids, necessitating management plans to be
re-evaluated. We hosted two magnificent summer interns who accomplished massive amounts of field work while excelling in the PHNRC classroom. Nature Speaks hosted another stellar lineup of speakers and much was accomplished with the 2,016 volunteer hours that were logged-in in 2019. So let's take a look at all the wonderful things that made 2019 so special.
|
|
January - The new year began with only one frosty work day, an ominous indication of things to come for 2019. The extra down time gave pause to reflect on many things as suggested in the January Resources Journal and work on tool maintenance.
Nature Speaks welcomed Dan Thompson, Wildlife Ecologist with the Forest Preserve District of Du Page County. Dan gave his highly informative presentation, "On the Brink of Extinction, Efforts to Save the Endangered Blanding’s turtle in Du Page County".
|
|
|
The endangered Blandings Turtle.
|
|
February - was a breath of fresh air as the NRC took pause to celebrate our 5th year anniversary.
The PHNRC was offically created on February 10th and the first official board meeting was held on March 5th 2014. Original board members were Kari Spiegelhalter, Agnes Wojnarski, Ed Madden, Marcia Jendreas and Agnieszka Debicki. Liaison Anne Marrin was also present. That first meeting focused on the ComEd grant application, (which they received 3 months later), encouraging Public Works to buy 30 native trees instead of non-native ones, and how to get volunteers.
|
|
|
Commissioners and co-founders Agnes Wojnarski - (left) and Kari Spiegelhalter
|
|
|
Commissioners present at Wild Things Conference
|
|
|
Commissioners, Sievertson, Wojnarski, Madden and Kamysz presented their talk, "PHNRC - How we Created a Successful Stewardship Organization". Filled with numerous slides of the NRC projects and volunteers, the Commissioners told how they started with a dream and applied knowledge, imagination, curiosity, relentless ambition and the good will of volunteers and city counterparts to achieved beyond what should have been possible. They explained what they did, how they did it, the challenges and successes they faced and how other municipalities could do they same thing. Volunteers also managed to get two important work days at Heron Pond and the Nature Preserve.
|
|
|
March - Brought in a whirlwind of activity. Work Days were spent at the Heron Pond and the Slough but the real story was the highly polarized city elections. Focused on a hotly contested Mayoral race, three key aldermanic races also came to the forefront. In the end, Mayor Helmer was re-elected and 3 new alderwomen were installed.
|
|
|
Will defines a special spot
|
|
|
Burn Boss Wojnarski reviews burn plans with staff
|
|
|
Offering a respite from politics and reminding us all why nature is so important, a young man names Will, took to Heron Pond to carve out a "Special Spot" and write a letter to everyone about it. The Commission also announced their plans for Earth Week, installed the interpretive signage at the Nature Preserve and completed their spring prescribed burn agenda.
|
|
|
Interpretive trail signage at the Nature Preserve
|
|
|
April - was very busy. The new city council was sworn in and the Earth Week festivities kicked off with Nature Speaks speaker Terry Miesle from Fermilab and his presentation "Chasing the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee. The Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis) populations have dramatically decreased in the past few decades. Mr. Miesle discussed some of the reasons for this decline, how we can help, and how we can report information as Citizen Scientists. He also presented information on other native bees in a lively Q and A session.
|
|
|
Terry Miesle and the rusty-patched Bumblebee
|
|
|
Wheeling High School students get busy transplanting seedlings
|
|
|
Earth Week continued with a visit from Wheeling High School, their first visit to the NRC. The students' morning consisted of split groups alternating between transplanting seedlings and guided nature trail tours at the Slough. Work days were conducted at the Slough and the greenhouse.
|
|
|
Commissioner Wojnarski and the Steady Eddie Award.
|
|
|
The Scheduled bird walk was cancelled due to weather and Commissioner Wojnarski was awarded the Steady Eddie award for 2018 at the Mayor's Annual Breakfast. Continuing on with educational outreach, Commissioners visited the Islamic Women's Association Earth Day celebration at the Islamic Society of the Northwest Suburbs.
|
|
|
NRC at the Islamic Society of the Northwest Suburbs
|
|
"We are always looking to communicate with as many people as possible with the intention of education about the natural world and breaking down barriers," said Commissioner Dana Sievertson. Commissioners gave two presentations that reviewed the PHNRC restoration sites in Prospect Heights and talked about the importance and joy of volunteering.
The biggest challenge however was the PHNRC operating budget. Presentations about the budget request for the fiscal year 2019-20 began in January and became finalized at the last council meeting of the outgoing administration. Their final act was to cut the NRC budget request of $13,185.00 down to $5,000.00, effectively eliminating the funding for the PHNRC summer intern program.
|
|
May - As if April seemed to be the end of the world, May became the beginning. Upon hearing of the NRC budget cuts, our most generous anonymous donor stepped up once again and donated $4,500.00, fully funding one summer intern position for the fourth time. "We were shocked and beyond grateful to say the least," said commissioner Sievertson.
"Having the interns cut from the city budget was devastating," said Commissioner Agnes Wojnarski. "The program is a vital part of everything we do. Interns produce the work load of four volunteer work days every week. They earn certifications and take training that enables them to preform tasks that regular volunteers cannot do in addition to the consistent 80 hours of work every week. In addition, we get to impact young interns going into the field and give them a first rate, real life education to the benefit of their career pursuits," she concluded.
It did not stop there. The community, mostly wishing to remain anonymous, began donating with the big surprise coming when the Rotary Club of Prospect Heights/Mount Prospect donated the final $2,600.00 needed to fulfill the second intern position. Former Rotary 6440 District Governor, current District 6440 Membership Chair, and Mt Prospect/Prospect Heights Club International Chair, Rodney C. Adams said, "The Rotary Club of Mount Prospect/Prospect Heights was honored to provide an educational summer intern program scholarship donation and award it to the Prospect Heights Natural Resource Commission." He continued, "The fortunate qualified student candidate will work hand in hand with the Commissioners to study and perform intensive restoration work in the area of natural resources, ecological management, earn their herbicide license, gain intensive plant ID training and receive daily training. The highly qualified commissioners volunteer hundreds of hours of their time for this training and study. All of this work also furthers the mission of the PHNRC to preserve, protect, and restore natural areas and raise awareness of environmental issues affecting Prospect Heights."
The outpouring of support was greatly appreciated. It is very encouraging to see that the community understands and supports the value of restoring the native habitat and increasing bio-diversity.
|
|
| PHNRC Chairperson Agnes Wojnarski and Rotary Club-Elect President, Andrew Ullman |
|
|
|
Summer interns Gabriela Szyniec (left) and Alyssa King
|
|
With funding now in place, the NRC went about the business of selecting the summer interns. Having Gabby Szyniec come back for a second tour of duty was a no-brainer," said commissioner Peter Hahn. "She was so good last year and had such a keen interest in learning and taking control that she was the prefect choice to repeat and take on the bigger role." An extensive search with several great, well qualified applicants led the commission to choose Alyssa King as the second intern.
On the educational front, Wheeling High School opted to commit for the academic year 2019-20 to continue their program with the NRC.
|
|
|
June. - was busy as all get out. Flora the work day dog took time out of her busy schedule to remind us all to be happy and enjoy the natural areas. "Everywhere you looked, summer was in full swing," said Commissioner Sievertson. "We had a run on turtles coming up from the Slough to lay eggs, the most magnificent display of clouds in my Illinois memory and pollinators, pollinators everywhere. Summer was bursting at the seams."
|
|
|
At the remnant sedge meadow.
|
|
|
The Year of the Sedge. - "It wasn't just us that noticed that this was an extraordinary year for native sedges," said PHNRC Chair Agnes Wojnarski. "The sedges this year have been exploding with seeds! Sedges are in the family of Cyperaceae. They may look like grasses, but they are very different from them. They are commonly found in wet or saturated conditions. In addition to being very ecologically important for wildlife, they do a great job of stabilizing the soil and soaking up all of that extra rain that spills down impervious surfaces into our waterways."
|
|
|
The Block Party Commissioner Jill Moskal sets up Community Day
|
|
|
The highlights of the month however had to be the annual Community day and the Park District Summer Block Party. The Park District Block Party is as much a part of summer as is a sunburn or a mosquito bite. "Every year we have given out a six-pack of native plants in exchange for an email address to send our monthly news journal and our work day notices to," said Commissioner Ed Madden. "This year we gave out over 1000 native plants and added over 170 new recipients for the Journal and work day notices. Food trucks, libations, music, neighbors and great opportunities for the commission to expand outreach to the community and area residents. That is what it is all about. We love Prospect Heights!"
|
|
|
July - The summer was a strange one. In early July you needed a canoe to get work and the next two weeks you need a camel. While the extreme weather conditions brought on by climate change have certainly caused great challenges for the NRC's best land management practices, it did not stop the never ending flow of new and exciting plants, insects and birds and increased numbers of the regulars.
|
|
|
Full bloom at HQ Liatris at the Slough
|
|
|
Widow Skimmer Dragonfly at Heron Pond.
|
|
In early July, Prospect Heights Girl Scout Troop 43062 approached Park District
Superintendent Dino Squires about an Oak tree recovery project on Park District and City property and before you knew it the NRC was happily working with the girls to start up their summer long project. The Girls were looking to use the project in their quest to gain the Girl Scouts Bronze award. Their plan was to plant 25 oak saplings and maintain them for a year in an effort to improve habitat. After much preparation and planning, the first 3 trees were in by July's end.
And finally, the NRC was happy to participate in the Annual 4th of July parade. It is always a great event and a huge shout out to the fine community of people at the Hebron Church for their amazing efforts to feed the city of Prospect Heights with their amazing hot dogs! Truly outstanding.
|
|
|
Commissioner Peter Hahn (digging) and members of Girl Scout Troop planting at the Nature Preserve
|
|
|
The NRC at Fourth of July
|
|
August - This August, Park District Executive Director Christina Ferraro wanted to try something a little different and approached PHNRC Chair Agnes Wojnarski about hosting a three, half-day nature camp for kids from 6 to 12 years old. "We understood that tenth week was lightly attended as people are wrapping up vacations and getting ready for the start of the school year," said Wojnarski. "What we didn't quite expect was 65 kids bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to explore and learn about the natural areas of Prospect Heights."
The plan was to create nature stations, divide the kids into groups and have them circulate through each of the stations. The first and last days were held at the Nature Preserve at the Morava center with the campers moving to the ComEd prairie on the second day. Camp activities included macroinvertebrate sampling from the creek, scavenger hunts, nature based craft projects, enchanted forest tours with Agnes, a sensory station, plant and insect id and a bone and pelt presentation. Needless to say the camp was very successful and all signs point toward a repeat in 2020.
|
|
|
Campers get close up with creepy crawlies
|
|
|
Tours of the "Enchanted Forest"
|
|
|
Commissioner Seth Marcus talks pelts and animals
|
|
It is also very hard to believe that another summer had flown by and the interns would be soon leaving us. Gabby and Alyssa were exceptional interns. Dedicated, hard working, self driven and highly motivated to learn and grow. That Alyssa commuted everyday from the Back of the Yards and arrived every single day at 6:45 a.m., is in and of itself a testimony to her internal drive and willingness to sacrifice. Gabby stepped into the role of Senior intern and mentor right away and they two of them became fast friends on a mission.
"I was impressed with how much attention they paid to the smallest of details," remarked Commissioner Hahn. "Their personal growth, their maturity and the effort they put forth resulted in an enormous amount of work that was accomplished. Perhaps it was the most progress in the war on invasives we have ever had.
|
|
|
Gabby, Alyssa and Agnes at Somme Prairie on interns prairie hop day 2019
|
|
|
August also gave us a remarkable display of clouds. We took in every moment.
|
|
September - The September bird walks were very interesting and led by the legendary Mary Lou Mellon and Lee Ramsey. Starting off at a stand of pokeweed, the group was treated to a gathering of cedar waxwings basking in the sun after gorging on poke berries. The waxwings were soon replaced by hairy and downy woodpeckers, northern flickers, American redstart and black and white warblers, blue jays, robins and mourning doves. What was completely unexpected and totally amazing was the arrival of the double-crested Cormorant swim team.
Four of the birds swam in formation with the lead bird dropping quickly out of sight. As if it was an Olympic competition, the other three birds would also dive one right after the other leaving only the horizon. Just as magically, the lead guy pops up about ten feet from where they started, followed by 2, 3, 4. You couldn't help but feel that someone, somewhere in synchronized swimming, was inspired by this routine.
|
|
|
The Cormorant swim team - photo courtesy of David Ludwin
|
|
|
As Commissioner Peter Hahn was recovering from shoulder surgery, he took the time to tell us all about the positive and healing effects of native plants in his back yard oases. The Girl Scouts got busy with it and planted 5 more oaks bringing their total to 8 out pf 25.
|
|
|
Peter's back yard - Photo courtesy of Peter Hahn
|
|
|
The Commission also returned to Ms. Funk's 4th grade classroom for the start of the new school year and a new batch of students. The children meet with the NRC approximately once a month for classroom and field study. "It is a joy to work with the children," added Commissioner Seth Marcus. "They are so inquisitive and smart." "It is a 10 minute walk from the classroom to the prairie," added PHNRC Chair Agnes Wojnarski. "We asked the children what they expected to see at the prairie. They yelled out 'butterflies', 'I want to see a praying mantis', 'many different flowers', 'bees'. When we arrived at the prairie, we saw a praying mantis and 4 Monarch butterflies within the first few feet, followed by hundreds of pollinators, and so much to see that we ran out of time. The children were so excited, so engaged, so brilliant at their observations, " she concluded.
|
|
|
Watercolor by Commissioner John Kamysz
|
|
|
The NRC also presented the first ever Commissioners art exhibition. The NRC promotes one exhibition every year in conjunction with our partners at the Public Library. The shows are based on the local restoration sites. This year, Commissioners Dana Sievertson, John Kamysz and Agnes Wojnarski presented paintings, drawings and photographs based on their restoration sites. Proceeds generated form show sales generated a donation of $1,000.00 dollars back to the commission for the 2020 fiscal year! And just for good measure, we hosted the annual Illinois Prairie week activities.
|
|
|
Painting by Commissioner Dana Sievertson
|
|
|
Oil Pastel by Commissioner Agnes Wojnarski
|
|
October - The big news in October was the that the young women of Troop 43062 completed their Oak Recovery Project in grand style! Their lofty goal was to propagate oak seedlings and reintroduce 25 young oak trees into the natural areas of Prospect Heights and give away at least another 200 saplings to surrounding residents at a local nature festival. The first year was spent producing stock. The girls solicited and received donations of materials and cash from residents and local merchants to aid in the project. Over the next 3 weeks, they planted, created a GPS map with the locations, honorary tree names and the species, posting everything to Facebook along the way.
Click here to see their Facebook page. Click here to see the GPS Map of Oak Locations
|
|
|
A new crop of 6th graders also made their first appearance at their Make-a-Difference service day, a twice a year event under the guidance of science teacher Stephanie Ritter. "This is a great program," added Wojnarski. "We are seeing an increase in activity and interest in all of the natural areas we manage. We are very happy to see the district allowing time for students to learn about and explore the natural world.
|
|
|
Students harvest native seeds at the ComEd prairie.
|
|
Finally, Nature Speaks hosted Bob Dean, CEO of CNT, (Center for Neighborhood Technology). CNT is a nationwide organization, made his appearance at Nature Speaks to a nearly full house at the Prospect Heights Public Library. His message was loud and clear; "We have to do more to keep water where it falls and stop kicking the can down the road to the next community."
Dean went on to explain, "Residents and communities have many options available. Green infrastructure solutions and their benefits like rain gardens, dry wells, bioswails, deep rooted native plantings, reducing the amount of turf grass, natural lawn care and permeable paving solutions that individuals can implement and municipalities can mandate or incentivise through policy change. The individual contribution may seem small and inconsequential, but when communities come together to work for the common good, the collective results can make a big difference." A lively Q & A session followed his captivating presentation.
|
|
|
Volunteers of the year 2019. Maria Ampulski (left) and Linda Waycie.
|
|
November - November is the month when the NRC takes pause to process all the seed collected over the course of the year and to give thanks to the dedicated volunteers with a luncheon and the presentation of the prestigious Golden Loppers. The seed processing day is a special event that always brings the volunteer community closer together and reminds us what good friends we have all become.This year's annual event was a great success as we processed over 75 pounds of locally collected native seed.
After a well orchestrated buffet, Commissioner Dana Sievertson presented the Golden Loppers. He began by thanking all the volunteers and commissioners for their service to the habitat, the community, the wildlife, the environment and the planet. "In these divided and caustic times where science and truth have become victims, YOU, are the guiding light. You are the voice of reason, compassion, truth and ultimately sustainability. Make no mistake, the environment has core issues. You are working on them."
In presenting the award, he went on to say, "The decision of who is the Volunteer of the Year has always been very difficult. This year, it was absolutely impossible to decide so for the first time ever, we are awarding two recipients, Maria Ampulski and Linda Waycie. Maria Ampulski was one of the original volunteers and has worked quietly behind the scenes from her position at the Public Library to elevate the profile of the NRC and recruit potential volunteers. Linda Waycie has been a spark plug for the commission bringing in an abundance of new opportunities for outreach. Both Maria and Linda are have unlimited energy and are regular participants at nearly every work day.
|
|
|
On the educational front, the 4th grade students from the Anne Sullivan School continued their prairie studies at the ComEd prairie. Under the leadership of fourth grade teacher Ms. Kelly Funk and the PHNRC, the students continued their on-site prairie studies in November. The plan calls for monthly visits from NRC Commissioners and volunteers to the classroom or the ComEd prairie to make presentations about the importance of restoring and maintaining prairie habitat, best land management practices and collecting information in their journals based on their observations and field experiences.
|
|
|
Prairie joy - photo courtesy of Agnes Wojnarski
|
|
|
Part of the plan is to have the students observe and document the changes to habitat and the inhabitants over the course of the four seasons. Click here to see a few of the student journals
|
|
|
Students collecting Monarda seed - photo courtesy of John Kamysz
|
|
|
Work days in November started with a long overdue visit to our good friends at Tully Park. The far west end of Tully Park still harbored an extensive buckthorn and mulberry infestation. Thanks to the great turnout, significant progress was made in preparation for the upcoming prescribed burn and reseeding. Led by PHNRC regular volunteer Wendy Dewar, the Tully Park Stewards have enjoyed great success in naturalizing Tully park. their efforts are to be commended.
|
|
|
The annual holiday work day party at the Slough.
|
|
|
December - was a very festive month with 3 very productive work days at the Slough. A major assault on invasives, opening up the canopy and removing widow makers, trail extensions and laying down a lot of seed.
|
|
|
Carol at the last work day of the decade!
|
|
Without a doubt, the biggest highlight of December 2019 was the Christmas present that came early!!!!
So, What does Santa's Beard and common milkweed have in Common?? Answer: White fluff and Jim McKay. If you have ever tried to liberate the common milkweed seed from the fluff, you know it amounts to the "Labors of Sisyphus". In this glorious month of December, super volunteer Jim McKay, aka St.James of the Holy Milkfluff, came to us with his interpretation of the milkweed gin.
|
|
|
Co-Volunteer of the year, Maria Ampulski, "Santa McKay", PHNRC Commissioner Agnes Wojnarski and the Seedolator.
|
|
|
Seed attached to the fluff gets loaded in the seedolator
|
|
|
Prior to retirement, Jim McKay was an engineer. "Jim is a wizard with anything mechanical'" said Ampulski. "He can fix anything," she added. There had been much discussion among commissioners for the last 5 years about building one, while regretting having not done it and agonizing over hours and hours of labor to process the seed. To process all the milkweed seed we collect in an average year, volunteers would routinely rack up 20-30 hours of labor. Needless to say it is fastidious hand work that would drive normal people insane.
|
|
|
Jim rotates the seedolator while Agnes vacuums fluff.
|
|
|
Jim looked at the plans available on the internet and came up with his improved version that produces astonishing results. The concept takes a garbage and has one stationary outer ring of spikes with a wire grid attached to the bottom for the seeds to fall through. There is an inner ring of spikes attached to a central rotating shaft so that when the can is loaded, the center shaft rotates against the fixed spikes and pulls the fluff apart, dropping the seeds to the screen below.
|
|
|
After rotation, Agnes vacuums the remaining fluff from the combing spines. That fluff gets run again.
|
|
|
The addition of a vacuum really changes the game. "As the system rotates, fluff becomes airborne," said Commissioner Dana Sievertson. "The vacuum sucks off the lighter, pure fluff. When you remove the lid, only the heaviest material remains. Reprocessing it a second time does the trick."
|
|
|
The vacuum collected fluff is seed free.
|
|
|
At the end of the day, All you get is PLS; Pure Live Seed. "Thanks to Jim's efforts, we have reduced 30 hours of labor down to 2. This really is like Christmas," said Wojnarski.
|
|
|
The final product and to all a good night!
|
|
|
2019 was a truly a great year for the natural areas on Prospect Heights. We would like to thank everyone who played part in the success. We look forward to the new year and continued progress and success in the coming decade.
|
|
Next up for Nature Speaks
Katherine Moore Powell, PHD
|
|
January 30th, 2020 - 7:00 PM. - Katherine Moore Powell, PHD. Climate Change Ecologist, The Field Museum
“A Natural Fortress Against Climate Change: Building Healthy, Resilient Urban Green Spaces”
Please join us as we welcome Katherine Moore Powell, PHD. as she presents “A Natural Fortress Against Climate Change: Building Healthy, Resilient Urban Green Spaces”
Climate change not only adds to threats from development, it accelerates the potential impacts. In the long term, temperatures are expected to increase and rainfall events will become heavier and shift seasonally, with more occurring in the spring and winter. In addition, short term, wide ranging temperature and rainfall variability will strain vulnerable habitats.
The talk will outline the status of Chicago’s urban green spaces, the Green Infrastructure Vision, and how to build resilient habitats that will not only endure but provide many desirable ecosystem services needed in our changing urban environments.
Click here to learn more Click here to Register
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
