ILLINOIS—USDA Forest Service volunteers rang in 2022 with a very special winter seed broadcast at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. A few volunteers who are trained in invasive species management techniques have been applying their skills to help maintain the Grant Creek restoration area since early December 2021.

“Over the years, strides in restoration have been accomplished in this area, and ongoing maintenance is necessary to ensure the native prairie plants that were planted here continue to have a chance to grow,” said Forest Service botanist Michelle Pearion.

Restoration began in this area around 2010 with the help of The Wetlands Initiative. While a number of invasive species are targeted for removal, the team is mostly clearing Eurasian honeysuckle, autumn olive, cottonwood, Osage orange and willow trees.

“Clearing brush from this restoration area will increase resiliency of native plant communities and improve the overall habitat quality for wildlife that depend on these areas,” said prairie vegetation management specialist Delane Strohmeyer. “This particular area is home to beautiful forbs and sedges such as cardinal flower, swamp milkweed, mountain mint, wild bergamot, porcupine sedge, red-footed spikerush and brown fox sedge.”

The restored prairie is much-needed natural habitat for native wildlife of all kinds, including grassland birds (bobolinks, dickcissels, Henslow sparrows, etc.), as well as pollinators such as monarch butterflies, bees and more. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that one in every three bites of food we eat depends on pollinators.

Year-round, volunteers, partners and staff are actively cutting honeysuckles and other brush plants, applying herbicides, pulling invasive plants by hand, and more. Their contributions are essential. The USDA estimates that invasive species cost the United States approximately $200 billion each year.

What’s more, prairie habitat has been significantly affected by invasive species. At one time, prairie—an ecosystem that some estimate is as rare as rainforest—dominated the state of Illinois. After nearly two centuries, in Illinois, less than .01 of 1% of tallgrass prairie remains.

To mark the progress happening this winter at the Grant Creek restoration area, Pearion and Strohmeyer prepared paper cones filled with prairie plant seeds for the team to spread across the prairie in a very special winter seed broadcast. Seed broadcasts are conducted in cold weather months for several reasons, including that the presence of snow creates a protective layer for the seeds.

"Seed broadcasting in winter months is an important part of the restorative process,” Strohmeyer said. “We really wanted this particular seed broadcast to acknowledge challenges that so many have overcome in recent years, as well as the hope that we have for the new year. The seeds that were spread are seeds of hope and renewal."

Invasive species management at the prairie has involved a variety of tools and techniques over the years, including the following:

• From 2017 to 2020, prescribed burning was conducted on a total of 13,664 acres.
• Nearly 1,000 acres are mowed each year to control encroachment of non-native shrubs.
• Across some 15 acres, garlic mustard and other invasive plants are pulled by hand each year in sensitive habitats on weekly volunteer restoration days and on special days like Earth Day. 
• Over 3,000 acres annually are treated with herbicide to control large infestations that threaten restored native habitats, either as propagule sources or active invading infestations.
• Environmental education and hands-on experiences are provided to students with Lewis University, Mighty Acorns, National Forest Foundation's Midewin Youth Corps, which involves students with North Lawndale College Prep High School, the Forest Service’s Youth Conservation Corps and more.

The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie volunteer program is managed through a partnership with The Nature Conservancy in Illinois.

National Non-Native Invasive Species Week is Feb. 28 to March 4, 2022.