Friends of the Parks

Restoration Practices

Ecological restoration is defined by the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) as “an intentional activity that initiates or accelerates the recovery of an ecosystem with respect to its health, integrity, and sustainability” of damaged or degraded landscapes. Clewell and Arson (2007) further clarified that the purpose of restoration is to return “an ecosystem to a prior state to the extent that the state can be ascertained and then approximated through restoration practice.”

Why restore?

In the early 1900’s, visionary leaders foresaw a time when the citizens of Cook County would need to be able to seek refuge in nature in the midst of a rapidly expanding urban landscape. As a result, the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC), the first such program in the nation, was established. Over the past 94 years, the District has acquired 68,000 acres of land in which people, wildlife and native plants find refuge every day.

However, although these oases of nature survived the sweep of urban development, they are now facing a new threat: populations of invasive shrubs and trees have been exploding in our natural areas and are negatively impacting the ecological health of the forest preserves. A recent FPDCC study of the ecological condition of its natural areas revealed that 21,000 acres of the District’s holdings “contain irreplaceable natural communities of significant ecological importance,” but that 76% of those irreplaceable communities “show signs of significant community decline that portends a loss of native species” (CW Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1. www.chicagowilderness.org). Studies have shown that the overabundance of invasive species is choking out the native species and wildly throwing off the balances within ecosystems. Fortunately, large volumes of invasive woody plants can be removed by volunteers during restoration workdays, thus augmenting the capacity of the FPDCC to slow the decline and eventually restore health to those threatened natural communities

What are the benefits of healthy natural areas?

Enhanced quality of life
Increased recreational and educational opportunities
Cleaner water because a healthy mixture of grasses and other plants hold rainwater, allowing it to percolate into the ground. In areas where the soil is bare, heavy rain events carry soil and street pollutants into our streams, rivers and lakes
Channels created by thousands of plant roots carry the water deep into the ground, insuring a water supply for drought periods
Root systems of healthy grasses and flowering plants lessen flooding by absorbing and filtering rain, decreasing runoff that leads to floods
Healthy forest preserves are good for the animals that depend on these fragments of nature for shelter, food and a place to rear their young
Increased property values (proximity to vibrant woodlands and prairies)

By supporting the District’s legal mission to manage the public lands, we can insure that these once rich prairies, open woodlands and oak savannas of Cook County will continue to provide the many public benefits envisioned by Jens Jensen, Dwight Perkins and others.

The activities you may be involved with may include:

Litter Removal
Buckthorn Removal
Mulching Trees

Litter Removal

This preserve is used by hundreds of visitors per week. We encourage stewardship by reminding preserve users to put litter in its proper place. We need volunteers to pick up litter from the preserve in the groves and in the woods.

Buckthorn

In the mid-1800’s buckthorn was introduced from Europe as a ornamental and for use as hedgerows. As with most non-natives, it escaped and successfully established itself in many of our natural communities. Lacking any environmental controls to keep its growth in check, it easily outcompetes native species for resources each year.

Identification

Leaves – oval, dark green with 3-4 curved veins reminiscent of a pitchfork; margins serrated or toothed; leaf terminates in a slightly curved tip

Bark – dark gray

Inner Bark - orange

Twigs –grayish; tipped with a sharp spine

Growth Form – deciduous shrub or small tree that can grow up to 25 feet in height

Uses – fruits used medicinally as a cathartic

Buckthorn Removal Procedures

Select shrub/tree to cut. Make sure you’re cutting the right shrub/tree!

FPDCC/FOTP staff crew leaders may mark trees to be cut with a dot of spray paint.
If no trees are marked, check with crew leader to confirm target trees.
Keep in mind that Forest Preserve District volunteers are only authorized to remove invasive shrubs and trees that are no larger than 6 inches in diameter at breast height.
If you’re not sure about a tree, DON”T cut it. Move on to another target until you can check w/ crew leader for confirmation.

Choose the right tool:

THE LOPPER RULE OF THUMB:

For saplings and re-sprouts whose diameter is thumb-size or smaller – use loppers. You may very well be able to muscle the loppers through larger saplings, but the force can actually break the loppers.
For stems and trunks larger than your thumb (but smaller than 6” diameter) – use bow saw.

Saw and lop SAFELY:

For loppers: always cut 1” above the ground – flatly. Do not cut at an angle; if someone happens to trip, they could fall on essentially a sharpened stake. Instead, with the lopper handles parallel to the ground, make your cut as flat as possible.
For sawyers: cut EITHER 1” above the ground OR waist high, if the tree seems unwieldy. Stumps should be cut 1” high to minimize tripping and the unsightly appearance of standing dead trunks. For trunks cut at waist height, the FPDCC will come around later and take down the stumps.
Sawyers: plan your cut carefully. If you’re cutting down a shrub or tree as tall or taller than you:

First, consider which way the tree is likely to fall. Don’t just look at the angle of the trunk – also look up at the branches and estimate which side of the top of the tree is carrying the most weight.
Cut on the side of the trunk that is opposite of the side you think the tree will fall toward.
Remember to cut EITHER at 1” above ground OR at waist height.
Always stop halfway through the trunk, look around, ask everyone working nearby to step way back, and then resume cutting.
Slow the saw down as you get to the last ¾ of the trunk and start to hear cracking sounds. This allows the pressure to release gradually. Go slow especially if there’s any chance that the tree might lean on another tree as it falls, because the cut end could shoot back toward you. Be ready to step away.
Yes, declare victory and shout TIMBER. But then, cut up your shrub/tree into lengths of 8’ or less and drag to brushpile.

A SAW SECRET: Keep it level and the teeth will do all the work for you.

Rather than bearing down into the cut (which often bends the blade, resulting in a curved cut that binds up your saw), pull back a bit, make sure you’re keeping the saw absolutely flat as you draw it toward you, and allow the teeth to lightly brush the wood with long, smooth strokes. (It takes a smooth stroke to be a suave sawyer.)

Build a classy brush pile.

All woody plants removed by volunteers should be stacked in brushpiles.
Brushpile locations should already be marked with a big fluorescent X on the ground, but if a new brush pile must be built, it should be placed in a location where it can be easily ignited without harming adjacent plants and trees.
Stack your brush so that the branches are all PARALLEL to one another. This saves room and allows for the stack to hold more stems, which reduces the total area of soil and habitat impacted by the brushpile. Most importantly it also facilitates quick ignition of the pile and creates a hotter fire that reduces the ash left after the burn.

Mulching Trees

Why Mulch?

In the wild, the forest floor is naturally covered with mulch made of decomposing leaves, twigs, branches and other plant matter. When a tree grows in a forest it requires no human intervention, nature is responsible for its future. But when trees are planted in urban settings, we all must assume responsibility for their care and long life.

Mulch helps keep roots cool in summer and warm in winter. A "moat" of mulch also protects urban trees from cuts and nicks caused by lawn-movers and weed-whippers. Another advantage of mulch is also related to grass growth. Grass is a very non-porous plant material. It does not allow water to strain through its compact root system. Thus, young trees, whose roots have not spread significantly, are denied the water they need to survive if grass is planted up to their trunks.

Mulch should be spread in a circle as far around the base of a young tree as possible, but at the very least two or three feet out. If there is grass growing around a tree, don't worry about it. A good thick layer of mulch (4" to 6" deep) will kill the grass.

�

The Right Way The Wrong Way

Mulch should be spread out in the shape of a saucer, not a mound, as is the common mistake. The saucer shape will hold and distribute rainwater to a tree's root more effectively. Mulch mounded up against a tree's trunk can cause bark rot, which makes the tree vulnerable to disease and insect problems. Mulch should be kept two inches away from the trunk so it does not cause trunk rot. Ideally, the diameter of the mulch should be the same as that of the "drip line" of the tree—the reach of its longest branches (see The Right Way illustration). However, in many parks this is not feasible. In such instances, a minimum 5-foot diameter should be maintained.