Events

Conservation Day Schedule for Fall 2010

Our conservation days are on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Everyone is welcome and no prior experience is necessary. We do not have formal membership or dues. Just come out as often as you like and help us do our small part to maintain the health of prairie remnants, prairie restorations and woodlands. Visit this page from time to time to get updates. To get e-mail notifications for updates send your e-mail address to Larry at thors@cmecwildblue.com with a request to be added to the list.

Click here to download a print-friendly PDF version of the Conservation Day Schedule for Fall 2010.

September 11 – 9:00 a.m. – Seed collecting at the Lincoln Prairie Grass Bike Trail Prairie. Meet at the Douglas-Hart Nature Center parking lot. Bring paper lunch bags.

September 18 – 9:00 a.m. – Honeysuckle removal at Douglas-Hart Nature Center.

September 25 – 9:00 a.m. – Honeysuckle and autumn olive removal at Lafferty Nature Study Center, behind Carl Sandberg School on Reynolds Drive in Charleston.

October 2 – 9:00 a.m. – Coneflower Hill Prairie for removal of woodies. We are helping IDNR Natural Heritage Biologist Roger Jansen remove the sassafras, shingle oak, and other woody growth that threatens the prairie forbs and grasses at this rare, remnant hill prairie. Take the Bruce-Findlay Road from Coles Station about 5 miles to the electric substation, turn right and go 2 miles to the “T,” then left one mile to the parking area on the right.

October 9 – 9:00 a.m. – Invasives removal, plus a woodland walk at Warbler Woods. Take Route 130 south from Charleston 4 miles to Daileyville Road (CR 460N) and go one-half mile to the Warbler Woods gate on the right.

October 16 – 9:00 a.m. – A second visit to Lafferty Nature Center

October 23 – 9:00 a.m. – Sugar maple and multiflora rose treatment at Embarras Bluffs woods. Take the Ashmore-Oakland Road to CR 1470N, turn west and continue across the Little Embarras River to Oak Grove Church at the corner of CR 2300E and CR 1600N.

October 30 – 9:00 a.m. – A second visit to Douglas-Hart Nature Cente.

November 6 – 9:00 a.m. – A second visit to Coneflower Hill Prairie for removal of woodies

November 13 – 9:00 a.m. – Honeysuckle removal at Lakeview Park in Charleston. Take McKinley Avenue past the waterworks and park at the gate.

November 20 – 9:00 a.m. – Autumn olive removal at Hanley Prairie. Take Route 130 south from Charleston about 6 miles, turn right on CR 300N and go to the end of the road. Park in hunter parking area number 4.

December 4 – 9:00 a.m. – Our annual multiflora rose removal day at Walnut Point State Park. Walnut Point is north of Oakland. Meet at the Pleasant Grove Picnic Area.

December 11 – 9:00 a.m. – James Nance Woods for removal of multiflora rose. Take 6th Street west from Neoga, continue 2.2 miles to Shelby County Road 3425E, turn right and go 0.9 mile past two “S” curves to the woods on the right. Bring shovels.

Some Sources for Informative Reading

 

Here are the titles of some journals and magazines that contain articles understandable for the layperson on natural areas and ecology.

  • Global Change Biology
  • Restoration Ecology
  • Wings
  • Bioscience
  • Outdoor IllinoisIllinois Steward
  • Erigenia (Illinois Native Plant Society)
  • American Journal of Botany
  • Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science

Also check out “Gatherings,” the monthly newsletter of the Illinois Volunteer Stewardship Network. Go to The Nature Conservancy in Illinois website and type “Gatherings” in the search box.
In the April-May 2010 issue, see “Northward Shifts for Wintering North American Birds Identified as Climate Change Indicator.”

In the June 2010 issue, there are links to a paper on the nesting success of grassland birds, to EPA fact sheets on climate change, to a global garlic mustard field survey, to the online Natural Areas Association newsletter, and to the native seed bank project.

How Might Global Warming Affect Illinois?

 

The near-term consequences of global warming for the regions of the world are described in a recent, on-line presentation by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Of particular interest to us are the possibilities for climate change in Illinois, whose climate could be similar to that of east Texas by 2050. We can expect hotter summers, heavier spring rains and more short-term droughts. The effects on agriculture will be especially serious. To read the results of the study, including possible combinations of solutions, go to www.ucsusa.org, click on “Global Warming,” then on successive screens “Midwestern States,” “Confronting Climate Change in the U.S. Midwest (2009),” and “Confronting Climate Change in the U.S. Midwest: Illinois.”

The Illinois Department Of Natural Resources Website:
Source For A Wealth Of Conservation Information

Check out the IDNR website at www.dnr.state.il.us for dozens of readable studies on trends in the status of natural areas in the state. Particularly informative are the many reports from the Critical Trends Assessment Program (CTAP), such as the one on the Embarras River Basin. On the IDNR home page, scroll down to the Search box on the left and enter CATP.