Turning Back the Clock

BY JASON L. JENKINS

Today when he tells the story, Preserve Manager Bill Kleiman can't help but smile. After all, when The Nature Conservancy (TNC) purchased Nachusa Grasslands in 1986, the best opportunity in the state to restore a large and diverse native prairie was realized. However, what makes the story special, and what causes Kleiman to smile, is the fact that it almost didn't happen. For Nachusa Grasslands, the difference between triumph and tragedy that day was only 15 minutes.

"We just beat the clock," says Kleiman, Nachusa Grasslands' manager since 1993. "It was scheduled to be auctioned off that day into five-acre home sites."

Fortunately, TNC members arrived with the check in time. Nachusa Grasslands was removed from the auction block, and thus began an effort to restore Illinois' original landscape on a large scale.

Before the plow

Hidden among rolling hills of cropland just northeast of Dixon, Nachusa Grasslands is nestled in the middle of the Rock River Valley. When Europeans first settled the valley early in the 19th century, it was part of an extensive native tallgrass prairie that covered nearly 35 percent of the region. These seemingly endless grasslands were so vast that many travelers to the area wrote accounts telling of the untamed beauty they witnessed. In 1829, one such traveler, Caleb Atwater, described the region in his book, Remarks Made on a Trip to Prairie du Chien; Thence to Washington City:

One of the most common grassland bird species is the red-winged blackbird. The species is dimorphic, which means males and females are of different colors.

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The spectacular purple flowers of the common spiderwort last for only a single day before decaying into a sticky, liquified mass.

"The surface of the country, is undulating sometimes gently, sometimes greatly, and in most places, is covered with a succes sion of flowers, from early spring, to late autumn. One week, nay even one day, you see, far as your delighted eye can reach, flowers of a reddish hue-the blue-the white-the yellow, and of every interesting shade, indeed, follow in succession, day after day, and week after week, ever varying, ever new, and always delightful...

"Sometimes I traveled, during four or five hours, either by day or by night, across some prairie, without seeing even a bush, or a tree-above me, were the wide spread, and lofty heavens, while the prairie, with its grasses and flowers, extended in all directions around me, far beyond the reach of my vision."

But as time passed and more settlers from the east moved into the region, changes began to take place, changing the prairie forever.

Laying claim to the land, farmers began to plow up the native grasses and plant crops in the thick, fertile soil. Settlers also suppressed the periodic fires that had historically scorched the prairie and encouraged its growth because of the threat they imposed. Over time, these alterations interfered with the natural processes necessary for the health and continued existence of the tallgrass prairie.

On cultivated lands, erosion began to occur. Soil, once held in place by the extensive root systems of prairie grasses, was carried away by wind and water. The disturbed soil caused other problems as well. Non-native plant species invaded such areas and thrived in the absence of competition, making it more difficult for native prairie plants to maintain genetic diversity.

Significant alterations also became apparent on surviving prairie remnants. Without the fires that favored the grasses, these areas began to undergo secondary succession to woody plant species that grew without control. The suppression of fire also disrupted the life cycles of many prairie plants whose seeds required fire to germinate. Slowly over time, the diversity among remaining prairie remnants was reduced.

But plants were not the only casualties of human alteration. Many species of mammals, grassland birds, butterflies and other insects were negatively affected by the modified composition and decreased diversity of the prairie. Those that could not adapt to their changing environment began to lose a foothold in the grasslands, giving way to more generalist species. Slowly, and almost without notice, the majority of the tallgrass prairie that had once enthralled travelers like Atwater disappeared from the region, and with it the creatures unique to the grassland ecosystem.

But not all of the prairie disappeared. Though degraded, a few tracts of prairie, including those that made up the original core of

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By removing brush, volunteer steward Jay Stacy fills the role fire once served on the prairie.

Nachusa Grasslands, managed to survive. Characterized by steep sandstone outcrops descending into rocky meadows and streams, the area's rolling landscape had saved it from the plow. However, action was needed if Nachusa Grasslands was to flourish and avoid the same fate as the rest of the tallgrass prairie.

Rebuilding the landscape

When TNC first began its restoration of Nachusa Grasslands 14 years ago, there were a number of obstacles to be tackled. The most critical of which was the acquisition of tracts of adjacent land.

"We've learned a lot from the study of islands," says Kleiman. "Many of the same principles apply. In a way, we're just an island too."

Perhaps the most striking similarity between islands and isolated tracts of native prairie like Nachusa Grasslands concerns the variable of size. Studies have demonstrated that species richness, or the total number of plants and animals, increases as the size of an island increases. Likewise, large prairie remnants maintain a greater species richness than smaller prairies. But the advantages of larger prairies are not simply limited to more diverse species. Larger prairies can also support larger populations of individual species. If the prairie is large enough, these populations can become what is known as "source" populations, those in which the rate of birth is greater than the rate of death. Over time, a source population will not only be able to maintain itself, but it will also produce individuals that can colonize other areas. Ensuring that Nachusa Grasslands could sustain source populations rather than "sink" populations, those in which the rate of birth is less than the rate of death, was critical if TNC was to achieve its goals.

So, as Kleiman explains, TNC began to acquire land surrounding Nachusa Grasslands' prairie remnants. Large contiguous tracts were purchased from willing sellers using pooled funds donated by the more than 30,000 TNC members in Illinois, as well as a number of contributions made specifically for the prairie.

"Currently, the preserve is over 1,100 acres," says Kleiman. "And we hope to keep going."

Because Nachusa Grasslands is such a large tract of native prairie, it can support a diversity of grassland bird species, such as the northern harrier and the sedge wren.

However, a native prairie of such magnitude required TNC to do more than simply purchase the land. Intensive management and a great deal of stewardship also were required if the grasslands were to be returned to their presettlement condition. But in order to do so TNC had to first determine what the Nachusa Grasslands of the past looked like.

"We had to look backward in order to move forward," says Kleiman. "There's not too many examples left to go by."

From the available resources, such as land surveys, aerial photographs, written accounts from early settlers and other prairie remnants, TNC volunteer stewards determined which native plant species were most likely indigenous to the six-county region. With this reconstructed view of the prairie's historic composition, the restoration process began.

Yet before any seed was sown, a number of other factors had to be taken into consideration. These included elements of the landscape such as soil type and hydrologic conditions, both of which affect the plant species that would naturally occur in an area. If plantings were to be successful, they had to be in areas that were best suited to their needs. Then, seeds had to be sown at the right time and in the right manner. Otherwise, they would not survive.

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The great expanse of the tallgrass prairie can be witnessed from Dot's Knob.

Lending a helping hand

Today, Nachusa Grasslands is beginning to resemble the prairies of the past. But the work is far from complete. In order to ensure that the native species have an opportunity to establish themselves, competition must be reduced. Therefore, management is focused on combating weeds and non-native invaders.

"We have approximately 600 native plant species at Nachusa Grasslands," says Kleiman. "And we're actively managing against 10 weeds."

However, controlling those 10 weeds takes a lot of work, and Kleiman and the other stewards find themselves spending a majority of the spring and summer trying to keep the weeds out. They do so in a number of ways, including mowing, pulling weeds by hand, clipping seed heads so weeds can not reproduce and spot-spraying with herbicide.

Over time, the repetitious removal of undesirable plants will provide native species the opportunity to fill in available niches in the habitat. Once that occurs, weeds and non-native species will be unable to get a foothold.

For the last seven years, Preserve Manager Bill Kleiman has orchestrated the return of Nachusa Grasslands to its presettlement condition.

"Once the prairie completely fills in, you could throw weed seeds on the ground and all they would do is sit there," says Jay Stacy, a volunteer steward beginning his sixth summer at the preserve. "There won't be room for the weeds to grow."

Aside from controlling weeds, management of Nachusa Grasslands takes on many other forms, keeping stewards busy throughout the year. These practices include harvesting and planting seed,

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thinning and removing brush, clearing non-native trees, restoring hydrology by removing old field tiles, and conducting prescribed fires. Combined, this management effort helps accelerate the regeneration of the original landscape.

"We have all the components. The plants and the land are unchanged," says Stacy. "So as we restore the components with the natural processes, given time, the system should work again."

And it appears that the system is beginning to work again. The state's largest population of the federally threatened prairie bush clover survives at Nachusa Grasslands, as do populations of fame flower, Hill's thistle, kittentail, forked aster, downy yellow painted cup and prairie lion's tooth, all of which are rare in Illinois.

Further, as a result of restoration efforts, the tallgrass prairie has attracted a number of grassland bird species that were absent for many years. Today, many of these species are now thriving in the tall-grass, including grasshopper sparrows, Henslow's sparrows, sedge wrens, dickcissels, bobolinks and eastern meadowlarks. The habitat also is supporting populations of the Illinois endangered upland sandpiper and northern harrier.

"We've been conducting censuses of birds for 10 years. For eight of those years, we found no Henslow's," says Kleiman. "But once we got rid of the fence rows and scrub trees, they came back. It's been remarkable."

Sowing the seeds of knowledge

Although the improvements at Nachusa Grasslands have made Kleiman, Stacy and other stewards enthusiastic about the future, they feel an important change that must be made involves the education of a broader community.

"It's been reported that most children can recognize 1,000 different brand names. But we find they can't name 10 different native plants," says Kleiman, a former school teacher. "That's something we're trying to change."

Looking to teach school-aged children about prairies, a special Youth Stewards program has been implemented at Nachusa Grasslands. The program utilizes both classroom activities and field trips to increase students' understanding of the great diversity of life found on the tallgrass prairie.

In the fall, after being introduced to 25 native prairie plants, local fourth graders gather seed from wildflowers and grasses. Then in the spring, they return to plant their seed and to learn to identify 25 species of grasslands birds by both sight and sound.

Kleiman says that by teaching these children about the grassland community, he hopes to encourage an appreciation of the prairie and to foster an understanding of the importance of stewardship. But he also adds that anyone is welcome to visit and learn about Nachusa Grasslands. "We're here seven days a week, 365 days a year," he says invitingly.

So as Nachusa Grasslands begins the 21st century, the outlook is promising. With stewardship, education and time, an area once decimated by the plow will again flourish, regaining its place among the rolling hills of the Rock River Valley.

And for Bill Kleiman, that is all the more reason to smile. "Prairies are subtle, not like mountains or oceans," he remarks. "But they're just as magnificent."

For more information about Nachusa Grasslands or for specific directions to the preserve, call (815) 456-2340, or visit The Nature Conservancy's website at http:// www.tnc.org.

On the prairie, visitors will find rattlesnake master, a plant Native Americans used to treat venomous bites, rheumatism, bladder and kidney ailments and to stop nosebleeds.

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