MORNING MIST Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is larger than 23 of New York City’s Central Parks.

TALLGRASS REHAB AT THE MIDEWIN NATIONAL TALLGRASS PRAIRIE IN ILLINOIS, A TEAM IS TRYING TO RESTORE A RARE BIOME THAT WAS NEARLY LOST.

BY DAWN REISS MICHELLE WENDLING MICHELLE

90 / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 / 91 LEFT More than 100 grassland birds breed at Midewin.

OPPOSITE Midewin is dotted by concrete ammunition bunkers, which each cost roughly $50,000 to demolish.

IT IS JUST AFTER 8:00 A.M. ON AN UNSEASONABLY WARM Herschel, his 75-pound, friendly prairie reserve, but public land man- Congress authorized conversion and the migrations of the 1800s when DAY IN APRIL WITH THE KIND OF OVERCAST MUGGY WEATHER rescue mutt. He started coming to aged by the forest service as part of preservation of the land by passing settlers crossed the prairies, built Midewin more than a decade earlier. the National Forest System, and the the Illinois Land Conservation Act of homes, and drained and cultivated THAT RATCHETS UP INTO A SCORCHING MIDDAY SUN. After having multiple back surger- only one of its kind, says Karen Di- 1995, signed into law by President the land for agriculture. ies, Cunz took a couple of years off Bari, the director of the Conservation Bill Clinton in 1996. In installments After making the hour’s drive south west of here. It’s firearm turkey sea- before returning a month ago. He’d Connect program at the National from the army, the USDA Forest Around 600 plant species live at and west of Chicago, past a replica of son, a little-known secret that isn’t spent the morning hiking the six- Forest Foundation. More than 31 Service took over its management Midewin. There are 348 species of the Blues Brothers’ 1974 Dodge Mo- well advertised. A sign alerts visitors mile loop around Twin Oaks Trail square miles—20,283 acres—make and began the process of restoration. native plants—rare species such as naco police sedan, complete with air that hunters may hunt on the east side seeing deer, coyote, rabbits, a turkey up this former World War II U.S. the sand and whorled milkweeds, raid siren, hoisted on top of a large of Midewin on even-numbered days vulture, and a hawk. Army arsenal site. More than 13,000 Transitioning the former arsenal— blue skullcap, fringed puccoon, black pole in Joliet, Illinois, I reach and the west side on odd-numbered acres are open to the public. which was listed on the Superfund and bastard toadflax, and 10 prairie the quiet respite of the Midewin Na- days, starting an hour before sunrise “There’s wildlife galore,” he says. National Priorities List until 2008— grasses. The big bluestem and prai- tional Tallgrass Prairie in the town of until 1:00 p.m. from April 15 to May “There’s so much space out there As the lone federally protected tall- hasn’t been an easy task. Though Il- rie cordgrass can grow to eight feet Wilmington. It’s home to fewer than 16. It also suggests that visitors like that even on the busy days, you feel grass prairie in the United States, linois is known as the Prairie State, high. There are 108 grassland birds 6,000 people. Despite its relatively me wear blaze orange. Having had like you have the place to yourself.” DiBari says, it is the largest piece less than 0.01 percent remains of its that breed at Midewin, among them close proximity to Chicago, it seems no idea beforehand, I’m dressed all of public land in the country that original 21 million acres of tallgrass the loggerhead shrike, Henslow’s most people have never heard of it. in black. There are 20 national grasslands in supports a tallgrass prairie and the prairie, according to the forest service. sparrow, and approximately 40 other the USDA Forest Service system, but largest public open space in the Chi- birds who use Midewin for feeding I end up at a north side entrance, I begin to get back into my car to find there’s only one national tallgrass cago metropolitan region. “Like the “True natural tallgrass prairie is the and wintering. The devil crayfish known as Hoff Road Trailhead, in- the main entrance, when Ken Cunz prairie, Midewin National Tallgrass largest island in an archipelago of rarest of North America’s major bi- is one of about 40 aquatic species.

stead of the main gate that is south- of New Lenox, Illinois, appears with Prairie. Despite its name, it is not a WENDLING MICHELLE INITIATIVE WETLANDS THE protected areas,” she says. omes,” DiBari says, owing in part to You could find snapping turtle, the

92 / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 / 93 WISCONSIN MIDEWIN TRAIL MAP ILLINOIS JOLIET ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT – 1946 94 ROCKFORD

AREA SEEN OPPOSITE 90 290 39

88 CHICAGO

LOBELIA MEADOWS MIDEWIN 355 PROJECT NATIONAL 294 JOLIET

TALLGRASS ILLINOIS (SEE PAGE 96) INDIANA 80 PRAIRIE

PRAIRIE GLACIAL 55 57 PLAINS PROJECT (SEE PAGE 98)

HIGHWAY 53

N

N

nonvenomous bullsnake, and 30 ter glacial debris left 1,000 acres of and also recreation projects. We hop ABOVE other kinds of reptiles and amphib- magnesium-rich limestone bedrock into a white pickup and head south “Nobody knows the natural heritage tallgrass prairie remained. The prairie grasses, but really the prairie is a TOP LEFT Map of Midewin ians. Twenty-five insects at Midewin with only thin soil near the surface. on the highway to the southwest side of the Midwest,” Short says. “You wasn’t open to the public. “There was matrix of different types of plants, Midewin once housed National Tallgrass need native plants to survive, and 27 The soil is very alkaline and toxic to of the property, a focus of much of go out to the West, and there’s the a lot of army infrastructure, buildings including the forbs.” the Joliet Army Prairie, which Ammunition Plant encompasses more species of wild mammals, including some plants, but allows others to the prairie restoration. conifer forests. You go out to the in disrepair, and safety hazards for the (Kankakee Ordnance than 20,000 acres. the plains pocket gopher, long-tailed grow—the leafy prairie clover, the East or to the South and you see the public,” Short says. This is the production area, where Works) seen here weasel, muskrat, and meadow and limestone hedge hyssop, the prickly “I grew up in the Midwest,” Short deciduous forest. In the Midwest, native plants, including yellow prairie in 1946. prairie voles, tread the area. More pear cactus. I had no idea cactus says. He earned his undergraduate that doesn’t exist anymore. Less than We turn down Boathouse Road and dock, royal catchfly, sunny compass than 80 species of butterflies and even grew in Illinois. This wildlife degree in landscape architecture at one-tenth of 1 percent of tallgrass stop to see the River Road seedbeds. plants, pale purple coneflowers, and ABOVE moths can be found here. refuge is nothing like what I imag- Iowa State University in 1985. He prairie that was originally on this Stripes of emerald grass alternate large stalks of prairie, marsh, and The U.S. Army still owns 466 acres, ined. It can be deafeningly silent or spent a lot of time outside as a little continent is left today.” with six- and eight-foot-wide tan rows rough blazing stars, are grown from according to Anna Midewin is a tallgrass prairie but alive with birds that are hard to hear kid and remembers asking what was filled with prairie forbs that have yet plugs. Picnic tables are dispersed in Braum, an ecologist at also has sedge meadows, savanna, even in the most densely populated here before farming and being told Short arrived at Midewin in 1997, a to blossom on the west side of the the open field for the volunteers and the Wetlands Initiative. ponds, wetlands, and upland for- woods near Chicago. by his father there was prairie. year after the U.S. Army’s transfer road. Right now, everything looks educational groups such as the Mighty est. Several streams feed into the of 15,083 acres from the Joliet Army dead, even though it’s not. “These Acorns, which helps grade-school kids Kankakee and Des Plaines Rivers. Near the welcome center, I meet “What is prairie?” Short remem- Ammunition Plant to the USDA for are the forbs of the prairie,” he says. connect with the environment, plant There’s also the rarely found Drum- Rick Short, the landscape architect at bers asking. His father explained, “I use by the forest service. At that time, “People talk about the tallgrass prai- seeds into plugs, and harvest them for

mond dolomite prairie formed af- Midewin. He’s in charge of its prairie guess it is grasses.” SERVICE FOREST USDA BOTTOM WENDLING, MICHELLE LEFT; TOP EARTHEXPLORER.USGS.GOV, fewer than 200 acres of the original rie and they always think about the restoration at Midewin. ↘

94 / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 / 95 LOBELIA MEADOWS PROJECT Starting in July 2012, the Wetlands Initiative worked in partnership with the LOBELIA MEADOWS PROJECT PRIOR TO HYDROLOGIC RESTORATION (2011) USDA Forest Service at Midewin to restore a 160-acre tract of land—known as DEVELOPING HABITATS IN 2013 the Lobelia Meadows project—that once held a sewage treatment facility used by the U.S. Army. The land was filled with agricultural drain tiles, gravel berms, rock piles, parking pads, and concrete foundations.

PROJECTED SOIL DEPTH HABITATS (INCHES)

DRY PRAIRIE 3 – 6 MESIC PRAIRIE 7 – 9 WET PRAIRIE 10 – 12 SEDGE MEADOW 13 – 35 MARSH DRAINAGE TILE LINES

LEFT The depth of soil overlying dolomitic bedrock was surveyed to determine the planting locations of species specifically adapted to dolomitic soil chemistry. The shallow zones are indicated by colored circles with drainage tile lines in black. DEVELOPING 3-D SURFACE MAP HABITATS

DRY PRAIRIE MESIC PRAIRIE WET PRAIRIE SEDGE MEADOW MARSH

LEFT The habitats as they were developing as a result of hydrologic restoration work and recontouring.

ABOVE On this map, the highest elevations are indicated in yellow, middle elevations in green, and lowest elevations in blue. The yellow zones are associated with berms and buildings, all of which were restored to natural contours in 2012. The borders of the projected habitats N are indicated with black lines. THE WETLANDS INITIATIVE WETLANDS THE INITIATIVE WETLANDS THE N

96 / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 / 97 PRAIRIE GLACIAL PLAINS PROJECT SEVEN-YEAR RESTORATION PROJECT (2019)

TOWNLINE ROAD

LEFT In 2016, the USDA Forest Service, the National Forest Foundation, and the Wetlands Initiative RIGHT launched a seven-year In 2019, the EPA gave plan to restore 1,931 a National Federal acres and create 4,000 Facility Excellence in acres of nearly contiguous Site Reuse award to native landscape on the the U.S. Army and the west side of Highway 53. USDA Forest Service W. DOYLE ROAD for restoration work at Midewin. HIGHWAY 53 BELOW Rick Short, the prairie landscape architect and UNITS TARGETED recreation program FOR WORK IN 2019/2020 manager at Midewin.

BUNKERS REMOVED TO DATE PROJECT BOUNDARIES – 1,931 ACRES UNITS OF CONTINUING RESTORATION – 1,052 ACRES UNITS FOR RESTORATION PREPARATION – 289 ACRES OTHER UNITS (FUTURE WORK PHASES) – 590 ACRES

N MIDEWIN NATIONAL TALLGRASS PRAIRIE VISITOR CENTER or two. Germination and coloniza- number of acres and so much to do. tion among plants can vary a lot. It is several lifetimes of work. No one has enough [manpower and financial planted from plugs. Including both Each year—usually through hand resources] to accomplish all of it.” sides, there are 20 acres. “We call it collection via hundreds of volunteers, a national tallgrass prairie, but it’s staff, and partner organizations— Without a lot of native plant nurseries N. RIVER ROAD multiple kinds of habitats,” Short Midewin harvests enough seed to net to rely on, Midewin buys seed grown says. “We are trying to move every- In all, there are 75 acres in seed pro- 1,000 pounds of cleaned seeds, Dur- within a specific provenance zone, thing back to its native ecosystem, duction among the three seedbeds kin says. Still, it’s not nearly enough a geographic area that spans from W. ARSENAL ROAD whatever that is.” and fields of native grasses that grow to restore a prairie like this. northern Illinois and southern Wis- approximately 130 species of native consin to central Illinois and north- Increasingly over the past 10 years, Illinois prairie plants, says Veronica The sheer size and scope of Midewin west Indiana. That means buying → The expansive and deep treelike on under the soil. For a long time, there’s been a change in strategy Hinke, the public affairs officer at have drawn a host of public and pri- from places like Prairie Moon Nursery roots of the wildflowers have incred- you don’t see the top growth when in how this seedbed is managed. Midewin. Additionally, four hoop vate entities, with varied restoration and Shooting Star Native Seeds in ible strength if they are allowed to they are just getting established. It’s Although they still plant the plugs houses and a small greenhouse near interests, based on different pools of Minnesota, Spence Restoration Nurs- mature. Planted too early, without hard, because in the early years of in early spring, there’s been more the Welcome Center house plants money and expertise. ery and Cardno Native Plant Nursery time to grow, they can be overrun by restoration you might not think any- rainfall each year, which has caused before they are put into the ground. in Indiana, as well as the Pizzo Native the more aggressive prairie grasses. thing is going on.” crop failures, Durkin says, even on Much of the production focuses on “It’s a high quality, expensive resto- Plant Nursery and Genesis Nursery in the west side, which traditionally growing rare prairie plants such as ration,” says Gary Sullivan, a senior Illinois, among others. “Prairie plants take time to put roots On the east side of the road, hidden didn’t have flooding in the seedbeds. violet wood sorrel and yellow star restoration ecologist for the Wetlands down,” says Jennifer Durkin, Mide- behind the trees, are wetland seed- “Instead of planting long row crops, grass that can’t be commercially pur- Initiative, a nonprofit. “That’s why so “We cleaned them out and it still win’s horticulturist and native plant beds filled with brown fox sedge, we chop it up with more wetland chased. Although some plants last many different organizations have wasn’t enough,” says Sullivan, who

specialist. “Most of the action goes swamp milkweed, and blue flag iris, seed,” she says. INITIATIVE WETLANDS THE BOTTOM REISS, DAWN RIGHT; TOP SERVICE, FOREST USDA for a decade, others last only a season gotten involved. There’s a massive spent $633,388 for 9,800 pounds

98 / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 / 99 CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE Thousands of agricultural clay drain tiles are being removed at Midewin; volunteers participate in National CLOCKWISE Public Lands Day at FROM TOP LEFT Midewin’s South Patrol Approximately 130 Road Prairie; and a species of native Illinois prescribed burn at prairie plants are Midewin. grown at Midewin; field crews for the Wetlands Initiative cut and clear invasive vegetation.

of native prairie and wetland seed to put in 12,800 hours at Midewin, the proper bacteria and nutrients, forbs in greater number, let them get monoculture of grasses, because Focusing on the west side of High- cover 731 acres of Midewin’s prairie mostly on restoration. The resto- says Drew Ullberg, a former super- established, and then they’ll fight it you cannot come back in, even after way 53, the $6.7 million project, restoration in winter months around ration process typically starts with visory natural resources manager out with the grasses.” a burn or herbiciding, to get the which includes million-dollar grants January 2019. planting Roundup-ready soybeans at Midewin who led the restoration flowers established.” from the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnel- for two years to kill the invasive spe- team before leaving in 2019 to work That approach means seeding in ley and Grand Victoria Foundations, Maintaining what is already planted cies in the ground and clear out for- in Arizona at Tonto National Forest. 50 or so plants that punch holes Much of the prairie restoration here targets removing additional army in restoration is difficult and crucial. mer agriculture fields, Sullivan says. “That’s why you have to re-establish into the soil like holes in a spaghetti is still a piecemeal patchwork of buildings and other infrastructure, “There are always invasive species the prairie in waves,” he says. strainer, Ullberg says. Then after pieces, about 3,400 acres as of July managing invasive species, and re- looking to get a foothold,” Durkin Then a cover crop is planted to shade five years, it’s overseeded with a 2019, Durkin says. planting native varietals. The goal: says. Other areas of Illinois are over- and protect native plants. Depending At Midewin, Ullberg says, the staff light application of the tall grasses link together pieces of prairie and taken by buckthorn, but some of on where the land is in its restoration has learned to make a mix that ei- to fill blank spots, then a third layer That will soon change. In 2016, the wetland that were previously sepa- the invasive species at Midewin are cycle, it is burned in the spring and ther leans entirely on forbs that help of the most delicate plants. Once a Wetlands Initiative and the forest rated into a 4,000-acre stretch of honeysuckle, autumn olive, garlic seeds are planted in January on top of to reestablish the turf or contains prairie is established, burns help service—which have worked togeth- nearly contiguous tallgrass prairie mustard, and Phragmites. the snow because, Durkin and Sulli- a small percentage of short prairie to maintain and manage it. “If you er since 1997 to restore more than on Midewin’s west side. van both noted, the freezing and thaw- grasses such as little bluestem and only put in typical prairie grasses 2,000 acres of prairie-wetland land- Volunteers perform much of the ing process helps situate the seeds prairie dropseed. “If you put in too like big bluestem, little bluestem, scapes across seven projects within We stopped next at the South Pa- planting and restoration by hand- into the soil for stronger germination. much grass, the turf will tighten up, Indian grass, prairie dropseed, they Midewin—began an accelerated trol Road Restoration Area. This pulling weeds, applying herbicide, and you can’t get the flowers estab- will dominate a scene and force public- and privately funded plan is where Midewin began its initial and collecting seeds, depending on It can take years or decades to get lished,” he says. “So you go through everybody else out,” Ullberg says. to restore more than 1,900 acres of restoration efforts, focusing on re-

the season. In 2018, 780 volunteers the soil conditions right to support the back door. You put the prairie RIGHT SERVICE, FOREST HINKE/USDA VERONICA LEFT; BOTTOM SERVICE, FOREST USDA LEFT; TOP INITIATIVE, WETLANDS THE BOTTOM AND RIGHT TOP INITIATIVE, WETLANDS THE LEFT; TOP SERVICE, FOREST USDA “Then you will see nothing but a wetlands and prairies by 2023. establishing wetland, sedge ↘

100 / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 / 101 BISON In October 2015, American bison were introduced to the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. MICHELLE WENDLING MICHELLE

102 / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 / 103 RIGHT Visitors hike on pedestrian-only trails or enjoy multiuse trails for biking, hiking, or horseback riding, including here at Iron Bridge Trailhead.

OPPOSITE Much of the restoration at Midewin has been focused on reestablishing wetland, sedge meadow, and mesic prairie habitats.

a unanimous deci- cording to the University of Illinois mounds built into the earth that can be sion and divide up the Prairie Research Institute. seen in various stages of demolition. 23,543 acres, which now encompass Abra- Even after Midewin’s new designa- The restoration process also requires ham Lincoln National tion, a well-thought-out plan had to digging up tile drains laid by farm- Cemetery, Prairie be created before anything could be ers who previously used the land. View Landfill, and two started under the National Environ- “Sometimes we can find the end industrial sites on the mental Policy Act. of one, near a stream or drainage west and south sides, ditch,” Short says. “And we work our → meadow, and mesic prairie habitats nearby.” To Short, it’s about scenic billion pounds of explosives—and as well as Midewin. “For a while, we couldn’t do much,” way back and either crush them or on 460 acres. integrity, where the sounds of na- then later during the Korean and says Bill Glass, who served as Mide- pull them back up, and that restores ture can be heard in a world that Vietnam Wars, until the technology “That created extraordinary public win’s ecologist until he retired in the hydrology to the landscape.” I am six feet tall and am dwarfed by is rarely quiet. That means hiking, became obsolete and ceased produc- and private partnerships and a co- 2018. “Now, it’s an opportunity to the prairie grasses. Migrants crossed cycling, horseback riding, and snow- tion in 1976. Originally, more than alition between federal, state, and show people what the Prairie State Over time, Midewin managers plan this tallgrass prairie when it was so shoeing are the modes of transporta- 400 buildings and structures were local government entities,” says Jer- was like before it was lost.” to open more than 40 trails and high a person riding a horse wasn’t tion across the 22 miles of trails at sited here. ry Adelmann, Honorary ASLA, the build two prairie learning centers. always visible. To re-create some of Midewin. president and CEO of Openlands, a After years of slow growth, a change that experience, Midewin has a rec- A grassroots effort to preserve the nonprofit conservation organization in political philosophies flipped a wait- In October 2015, a herd of 27 Ameri- reational trail system where ATVs, Much remains of the large swaths space caught the attention of then that helped spearhead the initiative. until-everything-is-done ideology to can bison was introduced at Mide- snowmobiles, and cars aren’t usually of land used to cultivate row crops, U.S. Representative George Sang- “do it now.” Midewin opened its doors win. A herd grazes at different grass allowed, though the staff is permitted hay, or cattle grazing, and the land is meister, a congressman from Mo- It was the first time a state agency, to the public in 2004 with 5,000 acres heights and that attracts different to use vehicles. “One of the focuses dotted by abandoned ammunition kena, Illinois. He formed and tasked the Illinois Department of Natural available for recreational use. species, increasing hopes for a return is the experience of solitude and the bunkers that once held explosives a 24-person citizens advisory com- Resources, and a federal agency, of the upland sandpiper, which hasn’t vastness here,” Short says, “and you produced during World War II—to mittee, the Joliet Arsenal Citizens the USDA Forest Service, had ever Today, there are still plenty of former been accounted for in Midewin’s an-

can’t do that with an engine running the tune of 10,000 workers and one Planning Commission, to generate INITIATIVE WETLANDS THE RIGHT TOP ASSOCIATION, INTERPRETIVE HEINRICH/MIDEWIN GERALD collaborated on such a project, ac- TNT bunkers—concrete, igloo-like nual grassland bird tally since 2013.

104 / LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE MAR 2020 / 105 RIGHT A bumblebee pollinates a patch of rare purple prairie clover.

OPPOSITE Turtle Pond, home to frogs, turtles, and birds, is located near the Chicago Road seedbeds.

“The bison were brought in to help solve that riddle,” says Trevor Ed- monson, a restoration specialist and project manager at the Wetlands Initiative, because upland sandpip- ers like to graze on shorter prairie grasses like little bluestem, gather- ing in massive groups only on large expanses of open land.

The free-range herd roams over 1,000 acres on the property and now includes more than 80 bison. For those who can’t come in person, Midewin operates a bison camera with a live feed update between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. The popularity of the bison has helped Midewin to in- crease its annual attendance, which hovered around 6,000 visitors in 2014, to more than 12,600 in 2016.

“We like to say, ‘Come for the bison,’” says Fran Harty, a special projects director of the Nature Conservancy who works at Midewin, “‘and stay for the prairie.’”

DAWN REISS IS AN INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST IN CHICAGO. FIND HER AT DAWNREISS.COM. THE WETLANDS INITIATIVE, TOP RIGHT; MICHELLE WENDLING, OPPOSITE WENDLING, MICHELLE RIGHT; TOP INITIATIVE, WETLANDS THE

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