A month-long marathon of cemetery prairie eco-restoration workdays across the northern half of the state kicks off a year of intensive care for these irreplaceable treasures. Join people who care in making a life-or-death difference for some of the last and best surviving prairie remnants in the prairie state!
Sometimes referred to as “mini Noah’s arks,” cemetery prairies contain an intricate web of plants, small animals, microorganisms, and fungi. In some cases, they represent the only such cradle of biodiversity left in an entire county. Relatively small (most are only one to five acres in size), healthy cemetery prairies contain intact ecosystems – whose survival depends on a delicate balance. Photo by Jack Shouba.
Few people today have glimpsed true Illinois as it thrived for thousands of years. But stand in a rich prairie and you might find yourself experiencing a portal through time.
Where did these gems survive? Surprisingly, in many cases, in cemeteries. Not just any cemetery, but early pioneer cemeteries set aside in the young days of our statehood. Saved from the plow and largely untouched over the intervening decades, these plots inadvertently protected what would become some of the last surviving prairie ecosystem. Now these sites are hallowed not only for the memories of departed loved ones, but for the life of a mostly departed landscape…and its potential to live again.
Munson Cemetery Prairie (Henry County) vibrates with life as New Jersey Tea and Pale Purple Coneflowers bloom by the hundreds. Remnant cemetery prairie landscape can offer one of the best blueprints we have for effective prairie restoration. Photo by Grant Fessler.
Many of these cemetery prairies have merited Illinois Nature Preserve status – the highest form of legal protection granted by the state. Yet their future is by no means assured. In many cases, their fragile heritage has no caretakers to assure that it is protected from invasive brush and weeds. Equally important, the health of these little ecosystems gradually declines in the absence of controlled burns.
Of the 29 surviving cemetery prairies recorded at the 1989 Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conference, at least 10 have by now become so degraded as to have disappeared entirely. The cemetery remains, but the prairie is lost.
Due to their small size, cemetery prairies are at an especial risk for swift degradation by invasive species. They need people who are eager to learn and work together to keep them healthy for now and all time. Photo by Kat Holecek.
In cooperation with many agencies, Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves have done the work of readying tools, plans, and authorizations to do the “eco first aid” that will protect these areas from loss by neglect.
Friends have organized a month-long marathon of cemetery prairie eco-restoration workdays across the northern half of the state to kick off a year of intensive care for these irreplaceable sites. All are welcome to join in one or more opportunities throughout the month of October (and beyond):
- Sunday, October 18th from 4-6 p.m. – Munson Cemetery Prairie (Henry County) Co-hosted with the Quad Cities Illinois Native Plant Society. Learn to gather rare seeds to restore damaged areas.
- Sunday, October 24th from 1-4 p.m. – Sandytown Cemetery Prairie (Whiteside County) Co-hosted by the Whiteside County Natural Areas Guardians. A taste of restoration: gather rare seed to restore damaged areas, cut brush that shades out prairie plants, and ready the site for a controlled burn.
- Sunday, October 25th from 1-4 p.m. – Beach Cemetery Prairie (Ogle County) Co-hosted with Natural Land Institute. Cut brush that shades out prairie plants.
- Sunday, October 25th from 2-5pm – Brownlee Cemetery Prairie (Mercer County) Co-hosted with the Mercer County Soil and Water Conservation District. Cut brush that shades out prairie plants, and gather rare seeds that will restore damaged areas.
- Sunday, October 25th, from 3-5pm – Sweetfern Savanna (Kankakee County) Gather rare seeds that will restore historic diversity to Short Cemetery Prairie.
- Saturday, October 31st from 2-5pm – Mt. Palatine Cemetery Prairie (Putnam County) Cut brush that shades out prairie plants.
For more information or to RSVP, email Rebeccah Hartz at rebeccah@friendsilnature.org or follow this link.
