Palos Restoration Project
  • Home
  • About
  • Schedule
  • Maps
  • Volunteer
  • Blog
  • Contact

Brushcutter Madness at Willow Springs - March 26 2015

3/31/2016

0 Comments

 
We had several (six?) brushcutters running, targeting the never-ending thicket of barberry that stretches south towards 95th Street. We keep returning to this spot, pushing the wall of brush farther back with each visit. We made a big dent in it on this day.

In the before and after pictures above, you can see the difference. In the first frame, Doug (cutting brush) is only visible from the waist up and the ground not visible at all. In the second frame, all the barberry is gone and a significant amount of light reaches the ground.




































,
0 Comments

A Weekend of Restoration - March 19 - 20, 2016

3/23/2016

0 Comments

 
Cap Sauers Saturday March 19

Did it ever feel good to arrive at the old watchman's house Saturday morning and find the parking lot filled with cars and people!

Orland Grasslands sent seven, including three sawyers. Father Tom Koys of St. James at Sag Bridge came with more than a dozen volunteers from the church's teen group. Our regulars turned out, and a pair of new volunteers from Palos Hills.
Margaret Tobin was able to split the crew of 30+ and work two sites. The brush-cutters worked on and around a ravine near the trail, with the St. James teens and other volunteers cutting, hauling, and burning honeysuckle. They had two fires going and added to them continuously throughout the morning.

This area cleaned up so well, a Forest Preserve prescribed burn done two days later had great coverage.

Three hundred yards away, up a hill, the Orland Grasslands sawyers thinned trees near a section previously worked in January. Two of them, newly certified Feller IIs, got to experience a different cutting environment than their home site. And they helped us finish an area that had a few loose ends from earlier that day.
Eventually the day wound down, with a couple volunteers pausing for a mid-afternoon lunch.   We were fortunate (again) to have no rain and mild temps, excellent weather for the work we did. The pictures below include one taken Tuesday, after the prescribed burn. Margaret put it well in a FB post; "I'm looking forward to seeing some amazing native plants move in here."
Black Partridge Woods March 20

This was another good day, with ten volunteers cutting buckthorn and honeysuckle. The weather was kind, the fire started without any trouble, and we pushed the wall of brush back towards an open area that gets closer with each work day.

Before departing, John Marlin gave us a tour of the old farmhouse site nearby, and some fascinating history of the area. The more you know, the more you feel a connection to the place.
0 Comments

Spears Woods March 12, 2016

3/17/2016

0 Comments

 
Spears Woods is filled with activity these days. Saturday we cut brush southwest of Boomerang Slough, adjacent to an area where a Friends of the Forest Preserves crew (FOTFP) worked extensively in January and February. Barberry, bittersweet, multiflora, honeysuckle. What a mess!

A redeeming note on this day was the soundtrack provided by numerous chorus frogs (and the occasional peeper) in a nearby pond. Very nice.......

We got a huge boost from the FOTFP Calumet crew, led by Brenda Elmore. They've been at Spears for two weeks now, clearing brush farther north towards 87th Street and Old Country Lane. It's really looking good out there, with more change yet to come.

The next day, March 13, we held our spring party, aka the Palos Potluck, at Sagawau ELC in Lemont. It was fun, thanks to all who came and shared with us!
0 Comments

Willow Springs Woods March 5, Cap Sauers Holding March 6, 2016

3/10/2016

0 Comments

 
On Saturday we were at Willow Springs Woods thinning trees. We had ten fires burning on the last of our days with the Atrium Landscape sawyers, big ones that went all day. Thanks to Ozzie who stayed to the end, to Hannah and her new fire-starting mojo, to the two Kevins and Mike for their unflagging strength, fire chef Doug for keeping things stirred, the FOTFP crew who were killin' it (again), to everyone who came out this day or on previous days and helps us keep moving the line.

Spring is all around us now. Chorus frogs calling at Willow Springs Woods yesterday, sandhill cranes overhead throughout the week.. A year ago yesterday I was on cross-country skis at Spears Woods, having a blast on the north-facing hill on Old Country Lane near 87th Street. What a difference a year - and an el Niño - will make.

Sunday, March 13 is our annual spring party (Palos Potluck) at Sagawau. It's a great chance to catch up on what's going on in restoration in Palos. For more information click on the Schedule page on this site.


Picture
Winter - It's All About The Fires
Picture
Seen Near Wetland Sunday March 6
0 Comments

Willow Springs Woods & Swallow Cliff Woods, February 27 2016

3/3/2016

0 Comments

 
This was our second visit to Willow West this winter, and our fourth in four months, including our Halloween rain fest.

We worked on a flat knob, perhaps 75 yards across, bounded on three sides by the deep ravines that define this area. Looking west you can see the Fairmount cemetery. Looking east you might see sunlight reflected off cars traveling on 104th Avenue.  Still, given the ruggedness of the terrain, the sharp dip down into the ravines, it's easy to feel you were dropped into the middle of nowhere. Stunning!

Four first-time volunteers came out to Willow West on this day. Our thanks to Colton, Sean, Nicole, and Abraham for their unbounded energy.

That same day, in the afternoon, John O'Lear, Swallow Cliff steward, cleared viburnum from an area to the south and east of the Cherry Hill picnic area. Since John works his site only in the dormant season, he won't return 'til November.



0 Comments

    Author

    I'm Jan Pietrzak with the Palos Restoration Project. This blog and website were created for your information and enjoyment.

    I hope you'll be encouraged and inspired to volunteer at any of the numerous forest preserves in our area.

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly