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Willow Springs December 23, Swallow Cliff December 24, Paddock December 27, 2017

12/28/2017

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Willow Springs Woods Saturday December 23
Photographer Mike McDonald talks and writes about the 'Wilds of Chicago'. Walking into Willow West you get a feel for that. No marked trails, numerous high ridges and deep ravines, such a pretty place!

After a couple hitches with equipment, we got rolling, got a fire built, and started loading it. The FOTFP crew and Steve on chainsaws, Doug on brushcutter, the rest of us hauling and hacking, we worked along the bottom of a deep ravine.

Swallow Cliff Woods South Sunday December 24
Snow began falling around 7 am  and by 9:00 the ground had a light coating. A lovely setting for a pre-holiday workout.

It got better when we walked the short distance from parking lot to work site and were greeted by a hot fire, compliments of Srdjan. No cold-finger anxiety, just jump in and work. We pushed farther down the slope to the north, while Karen distributed seed throughout the work area.

Thanks to Jackie, Srdjan, Tom, Max, Karen, Mike, Joe, Tom, and Omar for spending part of their Christmas Eve in Palos!

Paddock Woods Wednesday December 27
I didn't work this one, came out late on a hike to see these five bad@$$es working near the Montessori school on 119th Street. Probably the coldest morning of the season to date and they weren't fazed by it. Great job Bob, Gerri, Diane, Greg, and Michelle.

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Paddock Woods December 16, Swallow Cliff & Black Partridge December 17, 2017

12/18/2017

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Paddock Woods Saturday December 16
We had a mild, lovely morning with lots of foot traffic through the preserve (human and equine - see photos). With three sawyers and a group of willing haulers, four big fires were burning, two on either side of the trail.

This work is a foreshadowing of the 'big' play dates we have coming in January and February all around Palos.

Swallow Cliff Woods South Sunday December 17
We continue to push the wall of honeysuckle farther to the north, working our way down the hill towards the marshy patch.  In addition to cutting brush we spread several bags of the seed collected back in September.

We'll be back on Christmas Eve morning to resume our relentless push. Join us if you can.

Black Partridge Woods Sunday December 17
We had a busload of students brought out by ICO from two city schools, Farragut High and Latino Youth High. What a great crew this was! They listened to our talk, picked up their tools, and cleared a large chunk of the sector we've been working on in the past year.

Thank you Katty Regalado and Sierra Club's ICO (Inspiring Connections Outdoors) for a most enjoyable and productive afternoon!

Happy Holidays to all from Palos Restoration Project!



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Willow Springs December 9, Hidden Pond December 10 2017

12/12/2017

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Willow Springs Woods Saturday December 9

With an inch of new snow on the ground, we weren't sure whether we could use the parking lot at Willow Springs picnic grove. Joe and some of the Friends of the Forest Preserve crew cleared snow going uphill to the grove, and we were good to go.

Great to see Brad Marciniec back from his Redwood National Park adventure. We had three groups working; the FOTFP crew at one site, Steve, Joe, and a couple others at another, and the bulk of the group around a heinously nasty patch of multi-flora rose. Diana brush-cut while we dragged, burned, and cursed the thorns.

The early morning chill was forgotten once we started working and got the fires going, and we very much enjoyed being outdoors after the early-season snowfall.

Hidden Pond Sunday December 10

In November we left a lot of honeysuckle on the ground, on a day when impending rain kept us from starting a fire. This time conditions were better and we got rid of all of it, plus a whole lot more, in two brush piles just a stones throw from the parking lot.

Great group, great job!  In January we expect to be out near the prairie again.


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Willow Springs December 2, McClaughrey & Cap Sauers December 3, 2017

12/7/2017

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Prescribed burning in Palos
Fall burn season started the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and crews burned extensively for a full week. In some cases, like Cap Sauers, they visited a site two or three times to expand the burned area. Anyone driving through the area likely saw evidence of active burns. So great for the preserves!

I'm not sure how much area got burned but suspect they did much better than last fall, when burn season was a mere blink due to early snowfall. A tip of the hat to Forest Preserves of Cook County for their active use of fire in managing the land.

Willow Springs Woods Saturday December 2
Scheduled to work at Cap Sauers, we changed locations since a prescribed burn was taking place along Ford Road at Cap. Thank you Carolyn Faber for coming up with a good 'Plan B' and directing the work. We cut brush along 87th Street; in some areas the honeysuckle was almost impossible to walk through.

McClaughrey Springs Sunday December 3
Diana and crew worked along Mill Creek, not far from the bridge and trail coming out of Palos Woods North. Interesting observation; after we cleared brush the bridge and trail seemed much closer to our location than they did when we arrived. I guess a clear sightline made the difference.

Cap Sauers Sunday December 3
There's a lovely little wetland on the west side of Visitation Trail, below the hillside where Cap steward Bob Arentz is currently removing honeysuckle. There was a wide patch of it  obscuring the view of this wetland from the trail. In September 2016 we cut and burned a portion of this thicket. In October 2017 Diana Krug cut a lot of it with the gas brushcutter.

Sunday we dragged all that cut brush across the trail and burned it on the hillside, away from the wetland. We also cut most of the remaining honeysuckle, dragged and burned that as well. Now trail users have a clear view of the wetland. Looking good!

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    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.

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