Celebrating our wilderness connections in the Chicago Region

Complimentary SPRING 2011

Our Creeks & Streams

The Littlest Creatures Paddling the Kishwaukee River Otters Rain Gardens

[The Tree speaks]: Come to me, here beside the River. Plant yourself beside the River. Maya Angelou

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As beautiful as the winter is, and with my love of the changing seasons, still there is a wonderful thrill as Spring arrives. The smell of freshness in the air, the returning birds and wildlife emerging, all feels magical to me. In this issue we are highlighting streams and rivers in our region, and feature some great articles Im sure youll enjoy. This is the third issue of Way of the Wilds, and Im hoping we can continue publishing
This free magazine educates and informs through articles written by local experts, offering ideas for experiencing and taking ownership and pride in the earth and its processes around them. We are dedicated to providing local photography and information of interest to those involved in local stewardship as well as pieces of interest for everyone interested in conservation, recreation and their families.
Publishers:

and distributing this important magazine. The biggest challenge has been funding, as I know so many are feeling these days. If you or anyone you know is interested in advertising, investing, or has ideas to share, email me at debbie@wayofthewilds.com please dont hesitate to write. My intention has been to expand the awareness of the natural world in our area. Id love (and need) to have additional support and involvement! This issue introduces expanded articles on our website youll see the green www icon (at right) near these articles. Just go to the website, click on the issue and a larger version will open for you. You can download this pdf, or read it online. Happy planting, and I hope to see you again with the summer issue! Debbie Mackall, Publisher

www w

Debbie Mackall, Kerry Leigh A portion of every issue of Way of the Wilds is donated to support our natural resources. To place an ad in Way of the Wilds, please call Debbie at 847-726-2093, visit www. wayofthewilds.com, or email debbie@ wayofthewilds.com for information and ad rates.
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Editorial

Saturday, May 14, 2011 9 am 12 pm

Over 4,000 volunteers will gather for a day of hands-on environmental work along the Chicago River. Volunteers will collect garbage, remove invasive vegetation, spruce up river-edge trails, and much more. Be part of the revival of the Chicago River! To find a Chicago River Day location near you, visit www.chicagoriver.org and sign up today!
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2011 Way of the Wilds. All rights reserved. Way of the Wilds is a registered trademark of Shine Visual Communications, Inc. We do not endorse the products or services and are not responsible for any claims made in advertisements. We reserve the right to refuse advertising which we feel is not compatible with our intention. No part of this publication may be reprinted without permission from the publisher. The goal of Way of the Wilds is to educate and inform, bring people and nature together and encourage interaction with our natural world.

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Cover photo by Ray Mathis

Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011 | Page 3

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Chicago River Day

By Frank Veraldi to the cohesive nature of water, gravity is briefly over-powered setting a spring into motion, pushing up and through the earth. The spring boils into a seep, where the cohesive forces of the water have sliced a small escape wedge through the ground materials once deposited by great glaciers. Falling down the rim of the valley, the velocity of the conjoined drops gather speed, and transfer energy back into the earth by tumbling gravel and carrying clay. This process is called sediment transport, and without it, a stream would not have a diverse array of stream bottoms or substrates, nor the ability to fertilize its floodplain. Several more seeps join each other as our first drop from the oak savanna leaf arrives at the bottom of the valley rim, now a fullfledged creek. This newfound energy begins to push larger pieces of earth, but carves shrewdly as the bonded droplets are pulled by gravity the quick and easy way. The liquid ribbon begins to spin: first left then right, then left, then right again. This is called helical flow, and important creek fish such as hornyhead chub and common shiner rely on this process to bring them food. Large piles of stone begin to sort where elevation changes are greatest. The increased velocity from a quick drop in elevation slings the liquid ribbon that

The Magical Bond Between Earth & Water

A stream is a magical bond between two elements, earth and water bound unto themselves, bound together, and pulled through the landscape by gravity. A stream is a ribbon of life etching a mosaic barren and lush; scoured and piled; torrential and tranquil. This ribbon of life, when healthy, maintains a delicate balance between the water, the soil, the creatures and the plants. When streams have room to move around in their active floodplains they create backwaters, oxbow lakes, wetland depressions and riparian grasslands. When streams are prevented from this dance of dynamic self creation, these diverse wetlands begin to vanish from the landscape as we have seen in our urban streams that have been restricted in their movement by channelization. By not allowing a stream to erode and move in the landscape, and by making the riparian zone all the same, the stream and its biology begins to die. In the beginning A stream begins with a drop of water on a leaf, perhaps in an oak savanna on a hill of piled sands and gravels. The drop is pulled by gravity through root, soil and till. Deep below the hill, the drop joins with billions of others which collectively we call groundwater. Due

Page 4 | Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011

is our creek to the opposite side of the channel spearing the bank and bed. The spinning ribbon, like a corkscrew, shaves off clay, sand and stone from the bank, and in one motion, drops them to the other side of the channel just downstream. This process is called cut and fill alluviation which produces that classical snakelike meandering pattern of a creek viewed from the sky looking down. A summer thunderstorm swells the creek so that it overtops its banks and begins to flow faster with much momentum. The liquid ribbon is no longer a delightful cork screw, but a raging deluge of suspended rock and stone. This is called a channel forming event in which the water reworks both the channel and the floodplain into new configurations. A weakened clay bank gives way to this natural sandblaster its plants, soil, and till melt away into the flow. A week after the storm the shrunken deluge has returned to the clear liquid ribbon from ground fed droplets. The aftermath is revealed; the stream now flows left where it once flowed right, and in its place is left a weakly connected backwater that will slowly fade into the surrounding woodland a masked footprint of what once was. At the first terrace of the valley, the changes in elevation are slight, and gravity gently loosens its grip and cre-

ates a hemi-marsh, a mix of vegetation and open water that is bowl shaped with a wet prairie rim. Here the liquid ribbon loses much of its energy and the corkscrew stops spinning. The stream splits into braided paths, and in some areas, just a mass jumbling of reeds and open water. At the edge of this terrace, a narrow outlet releases the liquid ribbon back into a helical knife this sediment free ribbon is now an extra fine blade. As the ribbon of water falls down the side of the ancient river valley terrace, it gobbles up clay, sand and gravel, creating a large ravine, the floor of which is now occupied by a very large creek. And Now From Creek to River. The wet prairie has long turned into dark forest. The vast floodplain of the Illinois River has now silted in with upland clays to create prime conditions for huge trees. The once oak savanna spring now transfers its mass of water to the greater river, becoming one with the helical energy that drives stream life, the magical bond between earth and water. The same forces that drive life on earth also govern the universe we know. Without these forces there can be no life. Stream life requires the constant pressure of an applied force of flowing water called hydraulics. The word hydraulic comes from the Greeks, hydr water and aulos musical instrument. These

forces, as intended by nature, are impeccably musical. Streams can be beautiful melodies that erode and deposit, and resonate through and over the land. U Frank Veraldi is a biologist with the US Army Corps of Engineers at the Chicago District.
Turtle photo by Brian Tang, stream photo by Hank Erdmann

Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011 | Page 5

Community Involvement

StreamLeaders
We started the StreamLeaders volunteer program at OpenLands with partners such as the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Shedd Aquarium in 1995 to encourage volunteerism and facilitate partnerships between volunteers and professionals to undertake projects that would improve stream habitat. The exciting discovery of a young Slippershell mussel, an Illinois State Threatened Species, by a volunteer in the meanders last August was an early encouraging sign that the restoration may offer high quality habitat to support diverse species. The volunteers come from many different backgrounds: engineers who want to better understand the waters for which they design systems; a lawyer and his family looking for something fun to do together; students seeking experience in the field; teachers who want to bring lessons back to their classrooms; artists who seek inspiration in nature; and volunteer site stewards who want to get more involved. What they have in common is their love of being out in the water, in prairies and woodlands, people who want to connect with life in the creek and learn how to evaluate the health of creeks and rivers to make a difference in preserving and protecting the places they love.

By Laura Barghusen

Making a Difference on our Waterways

StreamLeaders volunteers put on waders and step off the banks and into the water. Working quickly, they scoop up fish that have been momentarily stunned by a fisheries biologist using a backpack electroshocker. Later, they kneel in the water and push their hands into the streambed feeling for native mussels embedded in the sand, silt or cobbles. Finally they do the riffle dance moving their feet quickly to dislodge macroinvertebrates from riffle rocks and drive them into a net. Back on land, the sorting, separating, and identifying begins. Volunteers learn to tell stonefly larva from sowbugs, and know the differences between a White and a Creek Heelsplitter mussel. The goal is to see how healthy the stream and its biological community is. Of course there must be number crunching, and counts have to be put into equations such as the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) for fish, the Mussel Classification Index (MCI), and the Macroinvertebrate Biotic Index (MBI), before we can say how diverse or healthy the stream is. For the past two years, StreamLeaders have been monitoring a project, for the Forest Preserve District of Will County, to re-meander a straightened section of Spring Creek in New Lenox, returning it to a more natural condition. Water moves very quickly through straightened channels, resulting in erosion and loss of high quality habitat. The meanders were recreated using a historic photograph as reference, the ditched section was filled in, and the creek waters redirected through the meanders. U Laura is the Associate Greenways Director at Openlands. To learn more or to volunteer go to www.openlands.org.

Page 6 | Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011

The Littlest Creatures

On a recent trip to Alaska my wife and I were introduced to grizzly bears, sea lions, humpbacked whales, and bald eagles. These reasonably can be called charismatic megafauna. They are easy to see and easily capture peoples imagination. Whales feed on krill, a microcrustacean; bears, eagles, and sea lions feed on fish, which in turn feed on tiny invertebrates in the water. To my mind the littlest creatures of the natural world dont get enough exposure. These littlest creatures are called macroinvertebrates. The name is meant to convey that they are large enough to be seen by the naked eye, roughly 1 mm all the way up to 450 mm. Macroinvertebrates are critical creatures for the health of our stream fish. They are what are called the first producers as they break up organic matter in the stream and in turn become food for the larger creatures. One example of a macroinvertebrate group is stoneflies (Plecoptera). They are typically found in fast flowing, highly oxygenated healthy streams. Some biologists regard stoneflies as one of the most endangered of the aquatic faunas. They are among the most sensitive organisms in response to stream degradation and habitat modification. It is thought that

Living with Wildlife

By Jim Bland

Illinois has lost about a third of its stonefly species. We do not usually associate insects with winter months but there are two stonefly families which are dubbed winter stoneflies. In watersheds that get significant groundwater inputs, summer water temperatures can be cooler and winter temperatures warmer than in streams fed exclusively by surface run-off. Winter stoneflies have dark coloration and they have an anti-freeze substance in their bodies to resist winter low temperatures. Many families of stoneflies are active predators on other stream invertebrates; others are shredders, shredding leaf materials into edible fractions. The Illinois RiverWatch Network is one of a variety of similar programs around the country designed to monitor the biological health of regional streams. This statewide program educates and trains volunteers to collect high quality data on the biological health of our regional streams. After training and outfitting with appropriate collection equipment, volunteers collect stream invertebrates, identify them, calculate various stream metrics based on their collection, and report their data to RiverWatch. U

Jim Bland is the author of Aquatic Macroinvertebrates of Illinois: A Supplement for the Illinois RiverWatch Programwhich will be available through RiverWatch in Spring of 2011.

Wild Bird Center of Fox River Grove "Your Backyard Nature Specialist"

Over 1700 individuals have received RiverWatch certification in stream monitoring and have collected an unprecedented amount of information for evaluating Illinois streams since the program was established in 1995. Data collected by volunteers over multiple years allows us to gauge the health and integrity of our streams and helps professionals make informed decisions about water resources. Vera Bojic, RiverWatch program manager for the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center. For additional information about RiverWatch or to request the power point presentation, contact Vera Bojic,at 618-468-2881 or email vbojic@lc.edu.

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Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011 | Page 7

Wild Spots

Flint Creek Preserves

Flint Creek Watershed, Lake County
by Tom Vanderpoel

Watershed Features

-1/2 miles of limestone hiking trails 3 traveling through large oaks Winds through 106 acre private preserve eatuiful view of natural hill (Kame) B which rises dramatically above the Fox River inds through 3/4 mile with restord W oak woods, prairies and wetlands. esting spots for spotted sandpipers, N sedge and marsh wrens, swamp sparrows and sora rails as well as many others.

Flint Creek winds its way north through the Barrington area eventually finding the Fox River as it has done for millennia. In the late 1980s it was still surrounded by farm fields, rolling oak groves, and had intermittent riffles in the water that sparkled in the sunlight.

Citizens for Conservation, a nonprofit group in the Barrington area, could see a large wave of development coming in the 1990s, so it went to work on a plan that called for a greenbelt along the creek and surrounding areas. This unremarkable little creek led to a plan that has seen a twenty year quest to save some of this open space and restore its ecosystems. To date the creation of a 680 acre Lake County forest preserve called Grassy Lake, two Citizens for Conservation preserves totaling 150 acres, and two Village of Lake Barrington preserves totaling 50 acres all line up along the creek. Grassy Lake Preserve The Grassy Lake preserve has 3-1/2 miles of limestone hiking trails that travel through large oaks along the creek. Part of this trail allows tantalizing views of the Fox River which will be greatly enhanced when the 90 acre newest addition is opened. This section boasts a natural hill or kame that rises dramatically above the Fox River and is full of history. When the trail veers away from the creek it takes you on a journey through even larger oak groves that rise above Grassy Lake and its large marsh. Wagner Fen Nature Preserve Wagner Fen is the northern terminus of the trail and is a 100 acre wetland that is

co-owned by Citizens for Conservation and the Lake County Forest Preserve District. This fen is home to eight endangered species and is being managed intensely to keep the community from degrading and disappearing from an altered ground water regime. The section of Flint Creek that flows through the forest preserve has a B rating quality which is high for Lake County. Parking for Grassy Lake and Wagner Fen Forest Preserves is at the Lake Barrington Village Hall located at Old Barrington Road just west of Miller Road. Flint Creek Savanna This savanna lies just south of Grassy Lake. The quality of the wetlands has encouraged a pair of sandhill cranes to nest for 14 consecutive years. Spotted sandpipers, sedge and marsh wrens, swamp sparrows and occasionally sora rails have found breeding homes in the wetland vegetation. Four species of frogs, toads, painted and snapping turtles live in what were once tiled and abandoned soybean fields. Habitat restrictive butterflies such as eyed-brown, black-dash skippers, and bronze coppers float above the sedges. Youll love it. U Parking is located off of Route 22 south of Good Shepherd Hospital. 847-382-7283. Permission is needed to access. Tom is a biologist with Citizens for Conservation.
Turtles and duck on log, by Susan Clark, Marsh Wren photo by Brian Tang.

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Places to Play

by Steve Voss

Paddling the Kishwaukee River

Lawrenceville Rd Epworth Rd.

Red Horse Bend Park Take Out

To Belvidere

Garden Prairie Rd.

The arrival of spring marks the end of the long anticipation and the beginning of the paddling season for many enthusiasts. The Kishwaukee River is one of Chicagolands paddling jewels and is one of the most paddled of the Illinois Water Trails. The Kishwaukee River system is made up of several branches and many tributaries totaling over 160 miles of canoeable waterways. Adopted in 1999, the Northeastern Illinois Water Trail System includes all of the Kishwaukee River as it flows through McHenry, Boone and Winnebago counties. Kishwaukee is the Potawatomi name for sycamore tree. The Kishwaukee is also one of the three highest water quality rivers in Illinois. The Illinois department of Natural Resources has classified the Kishwaukee as a Class A stream, meaning that it is amazingly clean and healthy. The section of river for this paddle is County Line Road in Marengo to Red Horse Bend, just east of Belvidere. Along this three to four hour adventure, youll encounter farm bridges and a few homes and farm buildings, but the character of this pristine small stream remains remarkably wild wildlife is diverse and plentiful. As you silently paddle along, keep your senses sharp and tune into your surroundings. One can expect to see deer, mink, bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, owls, vultures, great blue herons and various species of ducks. The river banks are mostly wooded and the spring forest floor will be in bloom. Good boat handling skills will be needed to negotiate two very small runnable dams. Because of the many turns in the river and a possible downed tree, portaging is always a possibility. Breaks or lunch can be enjoyed on one of the sandbars or beaches you find along the way. They will also provide you with a wonderful opportunity for a swim. U Steve Voss is an avid paddler of well over 1500 miles a year. With over 40 years on the water, Steve is a member of the Prairie State Canoeists; Illinois Paddling Councils Paddler Patrol; Des Plaines River Water Trail Keeper and maintains the Nippersink Water Trail.

Kishwaukee Kishwaukee River River

County Line Rd. Put In

Route 20/Grant Hwy.

Logan

Ave.

To Marengo

Put In Location: Route 20 west through Marengo to County Line Rd. Turn right on County Line Rd. past the Bridge Out signs to the end of the road. Unload and carry boats and gear to river. Many paddling clubs use this. Take Out Location: From the Put In Location, drive south to Rt. 20 and turn right. Continue on Route 20 to Garden Prairie Rd. and turn right. Cross the bridge over the Kishwaukee River and turn left onto Lawrenceville Road to Red Horse Bend Park. For more regional water trails information, check out the Northeastern Illinois Water Trails Map link: http://openlands.org/ Northeastern-Illinois-Water-Trails/View-category.html

Dont Forget: An approved PFD (personal flotation device),

Whistle, extra paddle, bow/stern ropes, Plenty of fluids, snacks/food, first aid kit, Dry bag with rain gear and a change of clothes, Sunscreen, lip balm, hat and insect spray. You are paddling on private lands so it is important to be respectful and carry out all of your trash.
Heron photo by Brian Tang

Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011 | Page 9

Field Guide
Exploring a Stream Edge
By Nan Buckhardt Spring is a time of renewal in nature; most folks think of birds nesting, flowers blooming, and trees getting new leaves as signature signs of spring. The warmth of spring brings activity to streams and rivers as well. Insect activity increases as the water warms. Look for spidery looking insects called water striders actually walking on top of the water. When the light is just right you will see six shadowy spots where its delicate feet touch the surface with breaking the water tension. The skittering movements of a small group of water striders often look like a synchronized dance routine. Blue gills prepare their gravelly nests for spawning when the temperature of the shallows is approaching 75 degrees. Watch closely as the male fish defend their nesting territories; it can be quite a show. It is not uncommon to see a snapping turtle lumber onto land looking for a place to lay her eggs. After mating in the water, the female looks for a nest location where a hole is easy to dig. She will deposit up to 100 eggs in the nest, cover the hole and return to the water. The eggs develop into baby turtles using the warmth of the nest. If you are lucky enough to find a nest, visit it often so you dont miss the parade of baby turtles making their way to the water. Beavers make their home in most of the larger rivers and lakes in the Chicago area. Though evidence of beavers is easy to identify (look for the chewed trunks of trees near the water) catching a glimpse of one is truly special. Two factors make beavers hard to spot: they are most active at night and can hold their breath for a long time. Try to visit an area where beaver live near dusk. Walk quietly near the stream and keenly listen, a nervous beaver may slap his tail on the water in disapproval if you startle him. The true reward in your visit to a streams edge during the spring is the personal renewal you feel by being in nature; the bonus will be the heron or wood duck lifting off the water or the mink trying to secretly sneak into the waters refuge. U Nan is a long time stream explorer with the Lake County Forest Preserves.
Turtle photo by Robert Visconti, Wood Ducks by Mike Umbreit

TAKE CARE: Walk slowly and evenly as you approach the streams edge quick movements and unexpected shadows can interrupt viewing! Take this warning to heart to get the best look at the critters that live in and near the water.

Page 10 | Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011

Young Wild Explorers

River Otters
by Denise Collins As winter slowly ends, all of nature eagerly awaits the coming of spring and animals of all kinds prepare for their young to be born. This time of year, the river otters in the waterways of Northern Illinois choose their mates. Last year, at Glacial Park in McHenry County, one pair of otters found a deserted muskrat den and made it their home. River otters, like so many animals, are sensitive to water pollution and will disappear from areas with polluted water. Their new home in the wetlands of Glacial Park gave them plenty of space along the winding Nippersink Creek. Otters are carnivorous. This means they eat other animals to survive. Their diet is mostly fish but theyll eat just about anything they find including eggs and young birds, shellfish, and insects. Besides hunting, otters spend most of the spring, summer, and fall playing. Otters play more than most wild animals do. They wrestle, play tag with each other, and slide on the river banks. Theyll also toss clamshells and fetch them just like a dog fetches sticks! Two or three babies are usually born to a litter in the early spring. The baby otters are called kits and are helpless at birth. But soon theyll be ready to learn everything their mother can teach them like how to swim and hunt. Mother otters have even been known to catch and release prey so their little ones can quickly improve their hunting skills. Otter dads rarely help. Otter kits grow quickly. When theyre about two months old theyll start exploring outside their den. Three months after that theyll be hunting for themselves. The young otters leave home when theyre about twelve months old because by then, their mother has a new litter of kits to raise. The young otters at Glacial Park will spend the spring, summer, and fall playing their otter games. In two years, they too will settle down and raise their own families. U Denise is the author of several novels and childrens books and is a keen observer of the natural world. She lives at Glacial Park with her husband Ed.

Naturalist in a Box is a realistic, hands on, quality environmental education material for children developed by a Montessori Teacher and conservationist.

Open a box and explore...

Did You Know?

iver otter ears and noses can open and close just like our eyelids do? R This special feature is very useful for swimming underwater. ey have extra long whiskers to help them feel their way through murky Th water? iver otters, like skunks, are Mustelids? They both have stinky scent R glands that they use to mark their territory. ou can learn more about river otters at: www.defenders.org/wildlife_ Y and_habitat/wildlife/river_otter.php

www.naturalistinabox.com

Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011 | Page 11

Making a Difference

Meet

by Cynthia Fox

Sean Sha ffer

ew, gross! reaction from the crowd, what they dont know is that he often throws the invasive plant in his salads at home. Some of Seans favorite Chicago River Day memories are when hes able to put down the loppers and teach something. One year, he says, we saw a coyote on the other bank of the river so we stopped and talked about it and what it means that its there being able to show people that this is habitat and it is wildlife, and its not scary. Those are the teachable moments he looks for. When we asked Sean why he keeps coming back to volunteer at Chicago River Day, he says Its a fun and worthwhile day outside with like minded people. You really get to see the difference you make that day, and every time you visit. One of the best feelings, he says, is coming back to Ronan Park and having to search for Buckthorn when it used to be everywhere. U When Sean is not volunteering at Chicago River Day, you can find him leading nature walks and showing kids the wonders of earthworms at the North Park Village Nature Center.

Sean Shaffer (above left) has been getting his hands dirty (literally) at Ronan Park for over a decade. As a volunteer Site Captain at Ronan Park for Chicago River Day, Sean rolls up his sleeves every year to do hands-on restoration work on behalf of one of the states most important waterways. To volunteer with Sean, head over to the Nature Center at 5801 N. Pulaski Road Chicago, IL 60646. To find out how to volunteer at Chicago River Day on May 14th, please visit: www.chicagoriver.org/ events/chicago_river_day

And he hasnt been alone in his efforts. Organized by Friends of the Chicago River, this annual event inspires an average of 4000 volunteers to head out to worksites along the river to clean up and restore habitat. Sean has been a tireless leader in the effort, having trained, inspired and educated hundreds of volunteers to participate in Chicago River Day. As the 2009 recipient of Chicago Audubon Societys Protector of the EnvironmentEducation Award, Sean brings a unique perspective to Chicago River Day. He explains that he is always thinking of new and creative ways to engage and connect his fellow volunteers with nature. When working with volunteer high school students, for example, he says that teens couldnt be happier with loppers and tools, and that he uses that as a starting point to dig deeper to get them to see the bigger picture. He hooks his audience young and old - right at the beginning by talking about one of Ronan Parks most wanted plants, garlic mustard, and then eating it. Although he often gets an

Page 12 | Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011

The ancients held that four primal elements existed from which all other things could trace their creation. Earth, Air, Fire and Water each possessed unique characteristics marking their relationship with the physical world. Air ruled ideas, earth that of physical matter, fire the spark of intellect and water the deep emotions. While in the world of philosophy the elementals rarely interacted with one another, this is certainly not the case in the realm of ecological restoration. Here fire, water, air and earth form a sublime partnership passionately expressed in the art and science of prescribed burning. Earth is represented by the prairie, woodland and wetland restorations that are a hallmark of our region. These natural communities require periodic interaction with wildfire to remain healthy. The speed of such fires are controlled by the prevailing winds on any given burn day. Finally it is water, in the form of fire breaks such as Nippersink Creek, and used to create burn lines that ultimately direct the course and movement of the flames. Prescribed fire is crucial to the health of nearly every Midwestern natural community type, including paradoxically, those found along streams and rivers. The riparian marshes and sedge meadows historically dotted the floodplains of the Chicago Region evolving under the sculpting hand of landscape scale fires.

Today those same communities respond to the caress of fire as they have through the centuries. Flowering increases, seed set is higher, the plants grow robust and healthy, and as a result the wildlife dependent upon that plant community also benefits. Invasive shrubby brush and other exotic non-native species are set back by periodic controlled fires. The blackened ground warms faster in the early spring sun promoting seed germination and plant emergence. Even the river itself benefits from increased insect populations dependent on healthy streamside plants communities. These in turn become the food source for fish, amphibians and reptiles living in and around the water. Plant debris entering the stream becomes the detritus that feeds everything from fresh water mussels to invertebrates. So next time you see the annual flames of spring and fall in your local forest preserve or municipal park, know that this ecological rite is helping to bring a vanishing landscape back to life from the ashes. U Ed Collins is the Natural Resource Manager with the McHenry County Conservation District and project manager of the Nippersink Re-meandering project at Glacial Park.

When Fire and Water Mix

by Ed Collins

Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011 | Page 13

Art

and Soul
by Kerry Leigh

Meet Melissa, a woman who loves water and mud. She also loves butterflies and Rumi, and once spent entire days at the wrong time of year searching for skunk cabbage. Her first memories were very visual, and she was always coloring, every surface around her. Her tolerant parents were scientists and although her first degree was in biology, the visual kept tugging at her and she took classes in art. When she was a butterfly monitor for The Nature Conservancy at Illinois Beach State Park, Melissa began to really understand the interactions of plants, insects and soil. This was her moment of crystallization, a moment where the richness, vibrancy and riotous colors of the natural world began to pour out of her in the medium of acrylics. As I looked at her work, she spoke to me about what influenced her. Melissa said, I feel very fortunate to live in an area where people are informed and dedicated to maintaining their natural heritage. While the beauty of

nature has a broad appeal to people everywhere, I believe that my paintings are particularly relevant to the people of Chicago. Much of what we know about habitat restoration was developed right here, and we have much to celebrate in that! Aldo Leopold, Monet and Robert Bateman were prime influences. Bateman in particular was an artist with a strong environmental ethic and a high standard of accuracy. Melissas paintings are bold, rich, full of depth, movement and life. They express a passionate understanding of the wholeness of life in a fragmented world, and intimately reflect the soul of the woman. Melissa has also begun pen and ink botanical drawings, learning how to still the artists hand. Her desire is not just for accuracy, but for these drawings to retain an aliveness that many botanical drawings strive for. U See Melissas work at: melissabluefineartandgardendesign.com

Art today is caught on the horns of a dilemma as to its relevance. Photographers skill and passions in capturing stunning images are escalating while at the same time schools and movements often declare nature art as irrelevant, pass, derivative. I believe that it is this, the meeting of souls between the artist, nature, and the viewer that make nature art, and art in general vital and very relevant. Melissa Pierson

Page 14 | Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011

Wild Landscaping

by Bob Kirschner Here are a few especially important raingarden dos and donts: O choose an area of your yard that slopes D away from the house, staying at least 10 feet away from your foundation (you dont want the water seeping back into your basement). O level the top of the gardens encircling D berm to maximize the amount of rainwater captured. O emphasize using native plants recomD mended for rain gardens they have deep roots that help break up tight clay soils and are well suited to wide fluctuations in soil moisture. O consider height, color, texture, and D bloom season when selecting your plants. Group species of plants together so their beauty is more recognizable. After all, it IS a garden! ONT site your rain garden where water D ponds after a rainfall. Those soils are already plugged and water infiltration rates will be low. ONT use seed to plant your rain garden; D use live plants or plant divisions instead. Seed will wash away. ONT build a rain garden thats too small D or too big; consult the publication cited to determine the best size. Many residential rain gardens are between 100 and 300 square feet. ONT worry about mosquitoes breeding D in your rain garden. A properly designed rain garden will drain most of its water within a few hours to a day (but mosquitoes need a week or more of standing water to lay and hatch their eggs).

Rain Gardens Arent Only for Rain!

A beautiful garden oasis in your yard that helps the environment?

Consider a rain garden!

A rain garden is a shallow depression thats excavated into the landscape with a small raised berm or lip on the down slope side to temporarily trap rainwater runoff. Is there a good spot for a rain garden in your yard? If your home has roof gutters and downspouts, then the answer is probably yes since redirected downspout water is an easy way to water your rain garden. Rain gardens allow rainwater to slowly soak into the ground, helping to recharge aquifers and reduce flooding by limiting the storm water runoff that drains into our sewers. As the rainwater travels through the garden soil, urban pollutants are filtered out and so our water is cleansed keeping pollution from our streams and lakes. They also provide bird, butterfly and dragonfly habitat. In September 2009, the Chicago Botanic Garden opened its new Plant Conservation Science Center with a one-acre Rainwater Glen where you can see many species of native plants that are great candidates for use in rain gardens. For more information download: Rain Gardens: A How-To Manual for Homeowners at http://dnr.wi.gov/runoff/rg. U Bob Kirschner is the Curator of Aquatic Plant & Urban Lake Studies at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Photo courtesy of Integrated Lakes Management

Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011 | Page 15

Managing Our Resources

Our Lakes and Ponds

In nature, water bodies accumulate sediment and nutrients over centuries before they become home to algae and heavy aquatic growth. In urban areas like the Chicago region, lakes and ponds often become nutrient rich and overgrown much more quickly. Managing these resources so that they are attractive, functional, and even more importantly, a safe habitat for desirable wildlife can be a challenge. Continuing to treat symptoms instead of addressing the cause of nuisance (aquatic) growth might get short-term results, but long term its costly because the problem never really goes away. Progressive, responsible companies should consider options aside from the traditional chemical applications. Aquatic resource managers are looking at the claims made by the sellers of enzymes and bacteria to improve water quality, but phosphorus is elemental, and no matter what you do, it will always be phosphorus. Further studies are needed to get a better idea of their potential for commercial use. Since phosphorus is a leading cause of unsightly (and potentially toxic) algae blooms, controlling phosphorus is a logical step in a proactive management

by Keith Gray

plan. Aluminum sulfate, or other clay based products with free radicals, tie up the phosphorus dissolved in the water, and make it unavailable for algal consumption. If native aquatic plants are introduced, their root systems stabilize the soil, produce oxygen, and create habitat for organisms that actually feed on algae. Once the phosphorous is settled out of the water column it can re-dissolve into the water if there is not enough oxygen. Aerators (fountains and diffusers) do a great job of mixing, and therefore oxygenating a pond, which keeps the phosphorus in the sediment and unavailable for algae. In response to the greater need for non-chemical solutions, manufacturers have developed innovative equipment to assist in these tasks. Tools on these machines can be interchanged to harvest aquatic growth, remove sediment, or access places to do stabilization work that couldnt be accessed previously. For ponds and sections of water where access in a developed area is tough, these options go a long way to economically address water management proactively. U

Other ways to reduce phosphorus in the water include: iscouraging geese, whose waste is d very nutrient rich; liminating phosphorus in lawn e fertilizers (the middle number should be 0on the label); educing erosion in the watershed, r specifically along the shoreline where nutrient rich soil accumulate in the lake and reduce water depth, leading to conditions (nutrients, sunlight, warmer water) that promote algae growth; and emoving the sediment and/or r aquatic growth from the water body.

Keith is secretary for Mettawa Open Lands Assoc., a board member for National Ecological Contractors Assoc., and Liberty Prairie Conservancy. He is also the founder of an environmental laboratory and the president of Integrated Lakes Management.

Page 16 | Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011

I first read these words when I had not yet grown up myself, but they struck me even then as profoundly insightful. I was at the University at the time, immersed in Latin names of stream fishes and aquatic insects, the anatomy of pondweeds, concepts of nutrient cycles and river ecology, darter zoogeography. But with these words I was immediately transported to an earlier classroom of endless summer days on my beloved Kishwaukee River, building a portfolio of pure experience that would later foster scientific curiosity and eventually a career. Rivers are powerful formative agents. In those days there was little worry that kids with access to a river would ever suffer from nature deficit disorder. When school let out in early June, it was down to the river for the next three months, fishing, swimming, catching crayfish, and daydreaming. Each morning required a bike ride down to its banks to see how the river had changed overnight. Dry spells revealed the mysteries of a previously hidden river bed that I had only imagined my lure dancing across. Spring flows drove home the rivers raw power, once nearly claiming this young swimmer while trying to reach an island during April high water. The drone of late summer cicadas in the ancient silver maples, the smell of drying algae and rotting September cottonwood leaves, the magic of daybreak on a sultry July morning while waiting for the rod tip to twitch - all high definition memories that intervening years of study and professional practice have not dimmed. These are more than just childhood diversions and fodder for middle-aged nostalgia. Early and direct outdoor experiences lead to lifelong pastimes and career paths. They also create the fertile ground for what eventually grows into a land ethic - the idea that there is a right and a wrong in how we treat our lands and waters, and a commitment to act. This river world did have limits. Just beyond the towns last bridge crossing was the wastewater treatment plan, but treatment seemed secondary to simple collection and discharge. What I remember is froth and foam from bank to bank, past the bend and out of sight. This was the end of our river playground - you just didnt go any further downriver. It seemed a travesty to me that we would pour suds into living waters that were home to such magnificent creatures as northern pike, softshell turtles and, as I would learn much later, banded darters. At the time it just seemed wrong. But in other places it was far worse. These were the days when rivers actually caught fire. Fortunately there were powerful voices speaking out against environmental desecration, people like Rachel Carson who, grounded in early experiences and later armed with science and free speech, persuaded Congress and a country that we needed to change course. Americans finally said enough. The years that followed produced the most remarkable and progressive set of environmental laws passed by any nation. Congress decreed that Americans had rights to things like clean water, clean air, and biological diversity. We have a long way to go. But suds no longer pour out of that treatment plant and the Kishwaukee River remains one of the most biologically diverse streams in Illinois. And I have no doubt that it still creates magical afternoons and career paths for kids fortunate enough to live within a bike ride of its banks. U John is works as the assistant director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and still loves to muck about in rivers.

Seasonal Musings
Spirit of Place/ Place of Spirit

River Schooling
By John Rogner When I call to mind my earliest impressions, I wonder whether the process ordinarily referred to as growing up is not actually a process of growing down; whether experience is not actually a progressive dilution of the essentials by the trivialities of living. Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011 | Page 17

Wild Mart

Green Fire Documentary

Save Money and Energy

Glacier Oaks Nursery

The Center for Humans and Nature will host the Chicago public premiere of Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and the Land Ethic in the 21st Century. Details coming soon. Visit the Centers website to learn more about the film and other Center projects. www.humansandnature.com

Make energy use in your home or business more efficient and affordable with the Nicor Gas Energy Efficiency Program. To learn more, visit our website. www.nicorgasrebates.com

Healing the Earth With RootKeeper Native Trees 815-943-8733 gonatives@beesongrows.com

Green Renovation

Green Gift Giving

Discover Nature

Since 1985, C&M Wilkins have been making homeowners dreams come true. As Chicagolands certified green renovators and cabinetry company, owners Charlie and Maggie Wilkins keep their jobs on time and in budget no job is too large or small. www.cmwilkins.com

Our gardens are asleep and we turn our attention to Winter fancies! Whimsical creations for home and garden. Earth friendly gift baskets, trash to treasure garden art and one-of-a-kind finds make perfect presents for the eco-conscious gift giver. Include a Prairie Godmothers gift certificate to guarantee earth friendly garden spaces in the Spring! 708.205.5126. www.prairiegodmothers.com

Here is where you can buy or rent a canoe or kayak, find guide books, a car top carrier, get your craft repaired, paddling accessories of all kinds, and our 70 years of practical experience. www.chicagolandcanoebase.com

Spiritual and Life Renewal

Custom Illustration

Naturalist in a Box

Wish your life had a reset button? It exists! Renewal in the Wilderness offers canoe/ kayak trips of spiritual and life renewal. Effective for over 6000 years!

Just call, she can draw it! Lynda Wallis 847-487-1752 drawings@mc.net www.freelanceillustrations.com

Naturalist in a box is realistic, hands on, quality environmental education material for children developed by a Montessori teacher and conservationist. Open a box and explore www.naturalistinabox.com

www.renewalinthewilderness.org

Page 18 | Way of the WILDS | Spring 2011

Dedicated to the safe long-term management of Chicagos natural areas.

Applied Ecological Services, Inc.

Specialists in the Scientific Restoration, Development and Preservation of Natural and Designed Systems

Degraded Woodland

Restored Woodland

SCIENCE HAS NEVER LOOKED SO BEAUTIFUL

DESIGN BUILD GROW

www.appliedeco.com

Managed Prairie

Created Wetland

COMING SOON . . .
to a Cook County Forest Preserve near you!

Forest Preserve District of Cook County

www.fpdcc.com l Green since 1914
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2/15/2011 11:22:29 AM