Helping Nature Make the Grade

Imagine your child just came home from school with a report card filled with D’s and C’s. Maybe you would sign him or her up for some tutoring. A lecture may be in order: “Your teachers say you just aren’t applying yourself!” Bottom line, you would do something.

Well, a report card was just issued for our natural lands, and the results show that they are in need of some remedial work. If we care about the future of these areas, this report is a wake up call that it is time we all do something to help.

“The State of Our Chicago Wilderness” report card was released in April. Prairies, wetlands, streams, woodlands, bird habitat, amphibian habitat and habitat for all other critters were evaluated by scientists from throughout the Chicago region. The results were sobering. Lakes had the highest grade with a “C,” while prairies had the lowest with a “D.”

Not surprisingly, human activities are the major problem.

Over the last century and a half, we have plowed, drained, ditched and developed most of our natural lands. Today, natural lands comprise just seven hundredths of one percent of the land in Illinois. Think of it this way, if all of the land in the state were represented by $100, just seven cents would represent the natural land remaining. For comparison, cropland and pasture land would be represented by over $73.

The remaining natural areas are fragmented, and under stress from land use changes, increased pollution, invasive species and lack of management.

If people do not intervene on behalf of native plants and natural communities, they will be over-run by invasive plants and animals, and the precious diversity that is unique to this area will be lost. Native species are not adapted to compete with many of the invasive species that we humans brought to the area over the years.

The Chicago Wilderness consortium is an alliance of more than 180 organizations working to study, restore, protect and manage the natural ecosystems of the Chicago Region. The geographic area known as “Chicago Wilderness” stretches from southeastern Wisconsin through northeastern Illinois and into northwestern Indiana.

Fortunately, the report card is not all doom and gloom. There are some inspiring success stories where people have intervened and helped set “nature” back on a natural course. The Nippersink Creek remeandering project that McHenry County Conservation District worked on a few years ago is one such success. MCCD took a section of the creek that had been channelized (dug into a straight ditch when the surrounding land was drained for farming) back into its historic channel.

And, there are high quality streams remaining in the region: Boone Creek east of Woodstock and Dutch Creek in Johnsburg being two that received mention in the report.

The good news is that we can help these natural areas improve by “applying ourselves” to conservation practices. Plant natives, volunteer for restoration projects, write a letter to the editor about a local conservation issue, call your elected officials, support local conservation groups and vote to support open space referenda. The time to act is now, before a report card comes out with Ds and Fs.

To obtain a copy of the Report Card, visit the Chicago Wilderness website: www.chicagowilderness.org, or write to Chicago Wilderness at 8 South Michigan Avenue, Suite 900, Chicago IL 60603.

Points of Interest

There will be a Groundwater Protection Workshop for McHenry County on Friday May 5 th starting at 8:30 am at McHenry County College. Please contact MCCD to register: 815.479.5779.

The Wildflower Preservation and Propagation Committee’s annual native plant sale is this Sunday, May 7 th at McHenry County College from 1-4 pm.

The Kishwaukee River Ecosystem Partnership recently released a Strategic Plan for conservation of the watershed. If you live in the western half of McHenry County, you likely live in the Kishwaukee watershed. Please contact The Land Conservancy of McHenry County at info@conservemc.org to obtain a copy of the plan.