Author Archives: Grassland Restoration Network blog

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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.

Crafting Wetlands—2023 Crew Planting

Posted on March 28, 2024 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

Written by Jacob Churulo, Nachusa Grasslands Resident Fellow Every year, Nachusa’s crew plantings embody our long-standing commitment to restoring high quality prairie habitat. In 2023, the combined seed picking efforts of the summer and fall restoration crews culminated into this … Continue reading →

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Rx fire pumper units and tenders

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

by Bill Kleiman As this is spring fire season in northern Illinois I thought I would highlight past posts I have done that show lessons learned about slip on pumper units and water tenders. 

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Land Abandonment, Succession and Restoration: The Wolf Run Grasslands Restoration Project at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Shaw Nature Reserve.

Posted on February 29, 2024 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

by Mike Saxton and Calvin Maginel This article was originally posted in https://mbgecologicalrestoration.wordpress.com/2023/12/19/land-abandonment-succession-and-restoration-the-wolf-run-grassland-restoration-project-at-the-missouri-botanical-gardens-shaw-nature-reserve/ Since 1950, over 1-billon acres of agricultural land have been abandoned worldwide. In certain landscape contexts, passive recovery of high levels of native biodiversity in abandoned fields … Continue reading →

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Grass-Specific Herbicide Treatment on Heavily Grass-Dominated Prairies

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Alex Conley and Dr. Andrew Kaul, Missouri Botanical Garden’s Shaw Nature Reserve Shaw Nature Reserve (SNR) is a division of the Missouri Botanical Garden, located 35 miles west of St. Louis and containing roughly 300 acres of restored tallgrass … Continue reading →

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Protecting oaks with fire and from fire

Posted on February 8, 2024 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman Oak species in our area thrive in landscapes with frequent fire. White oak, bur oak, black, Hills oak…. In full sun, bur oaks will grow like this one above with characteristic outspreading limbs. Fires bring sunlight. Oaks love sunlight. … Continue reading →

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Northern Illinois Native Seed Phenophases

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Matt Hokanson Have you ever discovered a population of rare native plants gorgeously in bloom and think to yourself “I must come back and collect seed from these plants to restore their population elsewhere”? Summer rolls on, life gets … Continue reading →

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GRN Workshop at Nachusa Grasslands September 10-12, 2024

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

by Bill Kleiman Our survey last week suggested that September 10-12 were better for more people, but plenty said these dates were not their top choice. The top topics people chose were habitat restoration lessons learned, weed management strategies and science … Continue reading →

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Woodland fire at Hill Site

Posted on December 14, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman On November 17, 2023 Middle Rock Conservation Partners burned their Samuel and Edna Hill Site. This photo shows good ecological fire, with a slow backburn consuming oak leaf litter and some dried plants from the previous few … Continue reading →

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2024 GRN workshop at Nachusa Grasslands, Illinois

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

We are working to plan the 2024 GRN workshop at Nachusa. We were wondering what time of year you might want the workshop, and what things you want to talk about? I made a very short survey to get your … Continue reading →

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A different pumper unit design

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

by Bill Kleiman Last week’s pumper unit had the tank taking up the entire bed. It was longer and shorter. The pump, motor, torches, and hose reel were all on top of the tank. But the design above is also … Continue reading →

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