Local pioneer cemetery to hold planting party Sept. 14

Volunteers will gather at Short Pioneer Cemetery Prairie from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, for a planting party to help restore diverse prairie to the local former farm fields.

Many plants and the pollinators who favor them live and thrive alongside the weathered cemetery. The site was dedicated as an Illinois Nature Preserve in 1988, granting it legal protection, but this does not guarantee ecological protection.

The Illinois Nature Preserve Commission is tasked with caring for more than 600 nature preserves statewide and requests help from many more hands to deliver the necessary management for restoring and maintaining the sites in its care.

The Nature Conservancy in Indiana provided 1,000 locally sourced native plant seedlings to support the effort. Many volunteers are needed to give these seedlings a new home on the prairie. Participants are encouraged to drop by when they can, dressed and ready to get a little dirty.

To RSVP or learn more, email stone@friendsilnature.org.