Author Archives: Grassland Restoration Network blog

Unknown's avatar

About Grassland Restoration Network blog

Bill Kleiman, Julianne Mason, and Mike Saxton publish this blog. Bill's daytime job is director of Nachusa Grasslands with The Nature Conservancy. Julianne works for the Forest Preserve District of Will County. Mike Saxton works for the Missouri Botanical Garden at their Shaw Nature Reserve. We are looking for guest authors on various topics of grassland habitat restoration. Contact us with your ideas.

Trailering UTVs for fire work

Posted on April 3, 2025 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

by Bill Kleiman Is the trailer above a CDL setup? My daughter was telling me about how they need a Commercial Drivers License, CDL, to haul two UTVs on one trailer to their prescribed fires. I told her that there … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Fire Breaks make or break you

Posted on February 14, 2025 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman February is not the ideal time for us to prepare fire breaks. Frozen ant mounds are hard to mow. The mowed vegetation does not dry well if you want to rake and blow it. A tractor with … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Save the Date! Grassland Restoration Network Workshop

Posted on January 23, 2025 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

September 10–11, 2025 Join us in Lawrence, Kansas, to share insights from grassland restoration work, research, and outreach while experiencing this unique ecotone region. Small remnant prairies in eastern Kansas host exceptional levels of plant diversity, and the combination of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Nachusa Grasslands hiring

Posted on December 5, 2024 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

We have upgraded our job description and increased the job category. So skip last weeks posting. Here is the text. Nachusa Grasslands Restoration Ecologist (CP VI) – 55997 – The Restoration Ecologist develops, manages, and advances conservation programs, plans, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Nachusa Grasslands hiring for two positions

Posted on November 22, 2024 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman The Nature Conservancy is hiring for a full time permanent Restoration Ecologist. The job is open another two weeks. We are looking for someone who is a good person and has skills like these: Prescribed fire, chainsaw, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Brush and fire frequency

Posted on October 11, 2024 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman On a recent blogpost I mentioned that I mowed a gray dogwood patch, Cornus racemosa, in about 1994, so 3 decades back. I only mowed it one time with a rotary mower on the back of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Weed management

Posted on September 26, 2024 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman, Director Nachusa Grasslands, TNC The recent GRN workshop was all tour based, with 5 themed tours that ran concurrently every two hours over two days. All participants could go on all 5 tours. I led the tour … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Lively Tours of Nachusa Prairie Plantings

Posted on September 19, 2024 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bernie Buchholz, Volunteer at Nachusa Grasslands The recent GRN conference at Nachusa Grasslands included “Prairie Tours” of new plantings and remnant restorations. It was a very experienced group with about 90% of attendees having either planted a prairie in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Agony and the Ecstasy of a First Year Prairie

Posted on August 22, 2024 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By: Mike Saxton – Manager of Ecological Restoration and Land Stewardship at Shaw Nature Reserve – a division of the Missouri Botanical Garden – Gray Summit, MO There are few acts more hopeful than planting prairie. We put so much … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Weed management tips

Posted on August 1, 2024 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman, Nachusa Grasslands Project Director, TNC If you visit an invasive weed occurrence only once a year to treat it the weed may increase. If you visit the occurrence twice you will break even and maybe gain. If … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments