When we try to restore natural areas we are usually trying to reestablish the conditions that would have been found in the region before Euro-American settlers arrived. Other times we're just trying to improve the ecological function of the site and increase the diversity of plants and animals. To understand why we do this work, you must first understand the history of our landscape. Or, click here to see what ecological restoration services we offer.
"A world of grass and flowers stretched around me, rising and falling in gentle undulations, as if an enchanter had struck the ocean swell, and it was at rest forever."
- Eliza Steele, 1840, upon entering the tallgrass prairie of Illinois.
Two hundred years ago the midwest United States was one of the most beautiful places in the world. It was a landscape shaped by regular fires and the interactions the Native Americans had with the plants and animals that lived there. There were vast prairies full of tall grasses and wildflowers, park-like oak savannas, and open and diverse woodlands. A wide variety of wetlands dotted and crossed the landscapes, with the edges of lakes and streams softened by plants growing on the moist shoreline and out into the shallows. This landscape was home to dozens of species of reptiles and amphibians, hundreds of types of birds, thousands of kinds of plants, tens of thousands of species of insects and a diversity and abundance of larger animals, including many animals we no longer see today like bison, moose, elk, wolves, badgers and cougars.
When the first Euro-American settlers arrived they found the landscape rich and bountiful, but also frightening and wild. To them these animals might be dangerous, wild plants could be hazardous, wildfires could burn up everything they owned and the weather could be outright deadly. These settlers were hard-working, practical folk who believed that any land that was not used for productive purposes was being wasted. So these brave settlers set about taming their little pieces of the wilderness, stopping the regenerative wildfires in the process. But, over time, the remaining wild places became smaller and fewer in number until our landscape was one dominated by agriculture and our natural heritage was nearly forgotten.
Today we live in a landscape teetering on the brink of ecological collapse. Many prairie remnants, not having experienced the rejuvenating effects of fire for decades, are being inundated by exotic invasive weeds, and the native species are losing out. In fact, over 99% of the tallgrass prairie has already been lost. Though open oak savannas once dominated southern Wisconsin, so many have become overgrown with understory trees and exotic brush that almost none remain today. Our woodlands have become so shaded by aggressive understory trees that there is not enough light for young oak trees to survive. Oak woodlands could become a thing of the past if something is not done soon. Our wetlands are being polluted and silted, and the native plants and animals are losing ground to more pollution tolerant weeds. Meanwhile, development is still wiping out natural areas with regularity.
We have learned from great thinkers like John Muir and Aldo Leopold that nature is not just a commodity to consume but that it is instead a community to which we belong. Through hard work and trial and error, ecologists and land managers have learned ways to reverse these destructive trends and restore the beauty and diversity of our wildlands. In order to maintain the diversity of life over the long term and the beauty of our midwestern landscapes, we must begin to work now, and work hard to restore our natural areas and recreate those that have been lost. Together, we can make the midwest a truly beautiful land again. Let's get started.
Additional Online Resources:
Extinction of the Fittest May Be the Legacy of Lost Habitats
Oak Regeneration In Some Ohio Forests Is Failing, Researchers Find
Prairie Restoration in Wisconsin
Restoring the prairie: the Tallgrass waves once more in the Midwest
Books to Read:
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
Miracle Under the Oaks by William K. Stevens
The Tallgrass Restoration Handbook edited by Steven Packard and Cornelia F. Mutel