December 22, 2024
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Volunteers clear invasive species, plant native seeds at Midewin

Strohmeyer: ‘The seeds that were spread are seeds of hope and renewal’

By Denise M. Baran-Unland
Forest service volunteers spread seeds of hope and renewal during a very special winter seed broadcast celebrating the new year at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. Pictured, from left: Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie botanist Michelle Pearion, Paul Schiesinger, Frederick Hodgers, Bill Mains, Mike Rzepka, Charles Stark, Sally Wieclaw and John Field.

Forest service volunteers spread seeds of hope and renewal during a very special winter seed broadcast celebrating the new year at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. Pictured, from left: Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie botanist Michelle Pearion, Paul Schiesinger, Frederick Hodgers, Bill Mains, Mike Rzepka, Charles Stark, Sally Wieclaw and John Field. (Photo provided)

Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie held a winter seed broadcast at Jan. 14 to help re-introduce prairie plants to the area.

To “broadcast” seeds means to sprinkle the seeds on the ground, as opposed to planting them. Winter is a good time to hold a seed broadcast because the snow “creates a protective layer for the seeds,” according to a news release from Midewin.

“Seed broadcasting in winter months is an important part of the restorative process,” Delane Strohmeyer, prairie vegetation management specialist at Midewin said in the release. “We really wanted this particular seed broadcast to acknowledge challenges that so many have overcome in recent years, as well as the hope that we have for the new year. The seeds that were spread are seeds of hope and renewal.”

Strohmeyer and Michelle Pearion, a USDA Forest Service botanist, placed prairie plant seeds – as well as chaff - into paper cones for the volunteers to spread across the prairie.

The release said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates people depend on pollinators for one in every three bites of food they eat. Therefore, a restored prairie is a “much-needed natural habitat” for monarchs and bees, as well as grassland birds, such as bobolinks, dickcissels, Henslow sparrows, the release said.

“Over the years, strides in restoration have been accomplished in this area, and ongoing maintenance is necessary to ensure that the native prairie plants that were planted here continue to have a chance to grow,” Pearion said in the release.

In addition, volunteers who are trained in invasive species management have helped to maintain the Grant Creek restoration area since early December 2021, the relese said. That team has cleared mostly Eurasian honeysuckle, autumn olive, cottonwood, Osage orange and willow trees.

Forest Service Volunteer John Poelking (left); and Paul Schiesinger carry away an Osage orange tree from the Grant Creek restoration area at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. Volunteers with specialized training in invasive species management techniques have made strides in maintenance in the area since early December 2021.

Forest Service Volunteer John Poelking (left); and Paul Schiesinger carry away an Osage orange tree from the Grant Creek restoration area at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. Volunteers with specialized training in invasive species management techniques have made strides in maintenance in the area since early December 2021. (Photo provided)

Throughout the year, volunteers, partners and staff actively cut honeysuckles and other brush plants, apply herbicides, and remove invasive plants by hand, the release said.

The USDA also estimated that invasive species cost the U.S. approximately $200 billion each year, the release said.

“Clearing brush from this restoration area will increase resiliency of native plant communities and improve the overall habitat quality for wildlife that depend on these areas,” Strohmeyer said in the release. “This particular area is home to beautiful forbs and sedges such as cardinal flower, swamp milkweed, mountain mint, wild bergamot, porcupine sedge, red-footed spikerush, and brown fox sedge.”

For information, visit fs.usda.gov/main/midewin/home.

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