PRAIRIE PROMOTER Grassroots Conservation in Action
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The PRAIRIE PROMOTER Grassroots Conservation in Action VOL 32, NO. 1 A Case for Planting Conservative April 2019 Species – A Love Story IN THIS ISSUE By Scott Weber 2 Executive Director Report n 1980, as part of my field 3 President’s Message Iecology internship with Editor’s Notes the International Crane Foundation’s (ICF) prairie 4 Downy Gentian - A Love Story restoration project, my 6 Welcome New Members supervisor Konrad Liegel and I divided our seed col- 7 Tree of Life lection between an “experi- 8 What Kind of Person? mental” fall plot of one acre and a much larger planting 9 Eldred Art Exhibit the following spring. This 10 Prairie Promoters Remembered was the second planting on 11 “The Lost Words”-Book Review the newly purchased farm before any infrastructure 12 Avon Ridge Fundraiser was built, and at a time 13 Announcements few practitioners saw fall plantings as a good alterna- 14 TPE 2019 Banquet & tive to the traditional spring Conference Recap ones. We didn’t know then 15 Meinert Prairie how pivotal this experi- ment would be. 16 Chapter Updates This story begins and 24 Field Trip Guide ends with my love of one 30 Donor List species: the downy gentian (Gentiana puberulenta). The downy gentian is not A downy gentian among prairie dropseed on our farm. the easiest gentian species This has proven to be a stable relationship for 30 to grow, but much of its dif- years and counting. In our experience, neither species ficulty is a result of the limits requires virgin prairie soil as some authors report. humans have imposed on (Photo by Scott Weber) it, not necessarily a fault of the gentian’s ecology or life cycle. Continued on Page 4 Our Mission Executive Director The Prairie Enthusiasts seek to ensure the perpetuation and recovery of prairie, oak Report – savanna, and other associated ecosystems of the Upper Midwest through protection, management, restoration, and education. 2018 in Review In doing so, we strive to work openly and Chris Kirkpatrick, Executive Director cooperatively with private landowners and other private and public conservation groups. Officers President - Scott Fulton n 2018, TPE increased its land protection to include eight new, and quite Vice President - Jerry Newman Idiverse, properties. Here’s a recap of our most successful land acquisi- Secretary - Jim Rogala tion year ever. Treasurer - Alice Mirk Using funds from the WI-DNR Knowles Nelson Stewardship Pro- Directors gram, we bought two Wisconsin properties this year. Alexander Savanna Chippewa Savannas - Mark Leach in Pierce County was the first land protection project for the St. Croix Coulee Region - Jim Rogala Valley Chapter. And last summer, we purchased Swenson Prairies in Iowa Empire-Sauk - Rich Henderson County, a site with high quality dry prairies and habitat for some critically Glacial Prairie - Alice Mirk rare insects. Many Rivers - Deanna Pomije We also were humbled by the gift of two properties, both within Minnesota Driftless - Stephen Winter the Prairie Bluff Chapter. Jim and Karen Freymiller donated Skinner Prai- Northwest Illinois - Jim Rachuy rie in Green County, Wis., which includes both dry prairie remnants and Prairie Bluff - Jerry Newman Southwest Wisconsin - Gary Eldred historical diggings from early lead mining. Richard and Joanne Meinert St. Croix Valley - Evanne Hunt donated Meinert Prairie to TPE last fall. This site, which Nick Faessler Prairie Sands - David Hamel has managed for 30 years, protects dry, and dry mesic, remnants in northern Stephenson County, Ill. (See Faessler’s story on Page 15). At the Staff end of the year, we closed on a donated conservation easement near Executive Director - Chris Kirkpatrick La Crosse, Wis., with Jim and Diane Rogala (see Coulee Region Chapter Communications Coordinator - Joe Rising News for the details). Bookkeeper - Jerry Pedretti It’s exciting to work with chapters on their first land protection Editorial Volunteers projects, and we hope this can be a model for other landowners in the Chippewa Savannas - Joe Maurer future. [email protected] Another TPE mission is to work collaboratively with conservation Coulee Region - Jim Rogala organizations, and last year, we transferred easements from three other [email protected] land trusts. In the spring, the Prairie Bluff Chapter purchased the Perkins Empire-Sauk - Cate Harrington conservation easement from the Natural Land Institute, which is contigu- [email protected] ous to Brigg’s Wetland in Rock County, Wis. We also transferred the Ellis Glacial Prairie - Alice & Walter Mirk Trust conservation easement from the Land Trust Network of Jefferson [email protected] Many Rivers - Deanna Pomije County Wis. to TPE’s Glacial Prairie Chapter. And we’re working now with [email protected] the family to add additional acreage of restored oak savanna. Minnesota Driftless - George Howe At year’s end, TPE accepted the Richardson conservation easement [email protected] from the Jo Daviess (Ill.) Conservation Foundation (JDCF). This property Northwest Illinois - Rickie Rachuy near Galena is also known as Horseshoe Mound. In 2019, we will be add- [email protected] ing acreage to the easement and finalizing plans to finance restoration of Prairie Bluff - Tom Mitchell the property. [email protected] Prairie Sands - Ray Goehring Each of these projects has an amazing story to tell, and all are great [email protected] accomplishments. But they stretch TPE’s capacity to manage the sites. Southwest Wisconsin - Linda Lynch We have to balance protecting all the sites we want with our capacity [email protected] to handle the growing interest. Often, landowners and chapters have St. Croix Valley - Evanne Hunt worked long and hard on these projects, sometimes for decades. I’m a [email protected] firm believer that we will be able to meet the challenge to protect more Prairie Promoter Editor - sites in the years ahead, while also ensuring their perpetuation and Debra Noell recovery. [email protected] Cover Photo: Lupine by Debra Noell 2 The Prairie Promoter President’s Message – Management in Perpetuity Scott Fulton, President ecently, Caroljean Coventree stepped down from her But how do we reconcile the finite life cycle of our very Rroles as Vice President and Board Member of TPE and will human organization and all its members with our mission of be focusing her time and considerable talents on leadership protecting these cherished natural communities “in per- of the Chippewa Savannas Chapter. We want to extend our petuity?” To put it another way, how can we at least try to sincerest thanks to Caroljean for her outstanding service to ensure that all the countless hours and dollars we have spent Chapter Support over the past several years. Thanks also to working to restore our local sites will not be wasted down Jerry Newman of the Prairie Bluff Chapter, who was elected the road? by the Board to the position of Vice President in December. Now that TPE is a fully accredited land trust, we have Leadership change – indeed change of all kinds - is part committed to follow the best practices that have evolved of the natural order of any human group. Every organization over many decades at other organizations with the same has a life cycle of its own that moves from bright startup to goal to legally protect natural communities. However, as enthusiastic growth, awkward adolescence, mature adult- the long-term caretakers of prairie and oak savanna in our hood, and finally a time to renew the cycle, move on, or region, we face a deeper challenge. We all know full well perhaps to just pass away. Our own personal involvement in it’s not enough to legally protect a site in perpetuity – we the group has the same life cycle, and most of us are all too also must ensure that active management is carried on in aware that our time is limited. perpetuity as well, or the prairie and savanna will ultimately For those of you who may not have memorized TPE’s disappear. mission statement, take a look at the top of the facing page. A Successfully meeting the challenge of “management critical part of the mission is to “…seek to ensure the perpetu- in perpetuity” will require thoughtful and creative use of ation and recovery of prairie, oak savanna and other associ- all our available resources including dollars, staff, profes- ated ecosystems of the Upper Midwest…” Land trusts all tend sional services and – critically - the committed local volun- to use terms like “in perpetuity” or “forever” to describe their teers in our chapters. At a recent Board meeting, we asked efforts at land protection. “Forever” is certainly an exaggera- the Land Protection and Land Management Committees tion – after all, a mere 25,000 years ago our entire region was to join forces to consider our long-term strategies, and covered with deep glacial ice, tundra or boreal forest. I person- what potential changes in policies and practices might be ally find the “seven generations” principle of the First Nations needed. Please let us know what you think (president@ to be hard enough for us mere mortals. ThePrairieEnthusiasts.org). Editor’s Notes Debra Noell, Editor brass band from down the We in TPE embrace the same fundamental values – A street boomed into the open- nature matters to us. We find peace and balance internally air, dimly lit bar in New Orleans when complete prairie ecosystems thrive around us. But as when it happened. An important humans, as Gary Eldred writes in his essay “What Kind of friend, a travel buddy for more Person?” (page 8), we often focus on our differences. We see than a decade, mentioned how she voted in the last election. what is “bad” in each other. We don’t take the time to listen, The venomous argument following this exchange surprised study, learn and understand.