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.

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 →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

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 →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

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 →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Prescribed fire UTV slip on unit

Posted on November 23, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman Here are recent photos from a slip-on pumper unit we have at Nachusa Grasslands. We like this one. This is a 75 gallon unit with the pump, motor and reel on top of the tank. The tank … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Birchmeier not spraying right

Posted on November 16, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman I have seen this issue before.  A repair tag on the Birchmeier that says “does not pump right”  or “does not spray right”.  Indeed, when I tried this pack it would only pump one stroke and then … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

The power and limits of photo monitoring

Posted on November 9, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman Take a look at this one point on the MRCP Hill Site on four dates. The first photo looks north, then the next photo looks at the ground. What I see in these photos: We did a … Continue reading →

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

Ornate box turtle emergence

Posted on October 13, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

by Elizabeth Bach and Devin Edmonds Prescribed fire is an essential management tool in grassland systems. It can help suppress invasive species, particularly woody species, and maintain native plant diversity. Some plants and animals thrive in recently burned habitat, others … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

September, 2024 GRN workshop scheduled to be at Nachusa Grasslands

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

by Bill Kleiman We don’t have the specific dates yet, but September, 2024 looks to be the month for our GRN workshop in Franklin Grove Illinois, about two hours west of Chicago. We last hosted the GRN back in 2014. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Lespedeza: friend and foe

Posted on September 14, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

by Bill Kleiman Our area has five species in the genus Lespedeza, and two are invasive. Here is a quick summary of the five species and a link at the end to a lengthier set of images with pointers. Lespedeza … Continue reading →

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

Resources on prairie seed

Posted on September 7, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

by Izabella Redlinski, Deputy Director of Resource Management, Forest Preserves of Cook County [Izabella was at our GRN workshop at Windom Minnesota and sent me some resource links related to topics we were discussing – BK] Paper by R. Pizza … Continue reading →

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