Adventures in Conservation – CLIP 2024 Week 8
by Oliver Reisenbigler
With three weeks remaining of the CLIP internship, we are trying to make the most of each passing day, whether it is rain or shine! At week 8 we’ve become more confident with the ecological skills we have been taught so far, such as herbicide and pulling techniques. However, we still have so much more to learn!
After our day at Midewin National Grasslands during week 6, we were able to use the biodiversity and data collection skills we had picked up to do the first-ever vegetation monitoring at TLC! At Yonder Prairie, we were able to record the plant species residing in the area, which allowed us to get familiar with specific plants like Canada Goldenrod and Spiderwort. Kim also had us focus on the scientific names of the species, which gave us a greater level of knowledge. Any unknown species were collected and taken back to Hennen, where we tried our best to ID the mystery plants and add them to the 120 meters of data that we had collected.
On Tuesday, we were back to our regular schedule of invasive removal! The team spread out and covered the prairie, the river, and the woody areas of Gateway Nature Park to eradicate as much parsnip as we could. During lunch, we were given a group review, where we were told how we can further improve our skills in the field. With the help of Kim and Caroline, by the end of the work day, we collected an entire van-full of parsnip seed heads to take back to Hennen and add to the ever-growing burn pile!
After many failed attempts due to the rainy weather, we were finally able to join another workday at Crowley Oaks on Wednesday! Working with the wonderful TLC volunteers, we aided in hauling trees and bushes to the burn piles, resulting in an (almost) completely clear area where buckthorn and dead plants used to reside. We were even treated by Larry to some pumpkin pie and homemade pickles in a blanket for lunch!
After saying goodbye to the volunteers, we headed over to Bluestem Ecological Services in Marengo! We were first given a presentation about the basics of landscape design, including how to work with customers and differences in design templates. We also looked at the design process and the diagrams needed before a finished product is created. We were even able to design our own road-median garden using the techniques we had just learned, keeping in mind things like soil type, weather patterns, and the height of the plants. This allowed us to see the deep thought process that goes on behind the scenes when designing a landscape! After we finished our activity, we went outside to get a tour of the Bluestem property by the lovely Sarah Voska. This included seeing their remnant shortgrass prairie, the gardens, their wide array of edible plants, and even a glimpse of their bison herd! With labor paired with meeting new people and learning new techniques, it was overall a productive and educational day.
Like Monday, we started off our Thursday morning back at Yonder Prairie for more vegetation monitoring! Although we only finished about 36 meters of our transect, we were able to get even more confident with using the scientific names of the plants we were seeing and using the tablet to record data. Once again, we returned to Hennen with a wide variety of unknown plants that were later ID’d to the best of our ability.
The afternoon was spent primarily inside prepping for the Youth and Family Center of McHenry County project that was planned for the next week. Our goal was to teach a group of young kids about a subject involving nature through a fun and educational activity. We settled on teaching them about the importance of bugs within an ecosystem through rock painting and a short hike to go “bug hunting.” With this, the kids should be able to learn about what bugs can do to affect the environment, both good and bad. After making flashcards, we had a little fun and painted some sample bug rocks ourselves!
We ended the week with more invasive control, returning to Yonder Prairie once again. Joined by Caroline, we used the herbicide triclopyr to target buckthorn resprouts and any bittersweet that was messing with the growth of our native plants. After our group review on Tuesday, we were extra determined to use the feedback we were given to improve our herbicide safety and techniques!
During lunch, we were visited by TLC’s executive director Lisa Haderlein who talked to us about the history of land trusts throughout Illinois and how the government process of easements and nature preserves work. This was a new perspective of conservation we hadn’t heard before, since although we are regularly in the field, we had never learned the history or process of the ground we were restoring! This week was full of productivity and new experiences, and we hope to further improve our skills as conservationists and students in the coming weeks!