NEWS & EVENTS
Events
August 6th - Small Yellow Sedge Hunt
August 17th - A Walk on the Beach and Bluffs of Lake Michigan
News
2008 Workshop Pictures
March Newsletter
Small Yellow Sedge Hunt
Where: Marl Flat Forest Preserve, Volo, IL (Near Route 120 and Fish Lake Rds)
When: Wednesday, August 6th - 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
What: Discover this showy but dimunitive sedge in rare wetland type known as a fen. We’ll work in small groups and tread lightly as we count and map this species. We need volunteers who are willing to work in small groups and help find and count the small yellow sedge. We will use the Level 1 monitoring protocols of Plants of Concern and will provide all the equipment and training necessary before we start. We’ll do this rain or shine, and please be prepared for mosquitoes.
(Posted on 4/9/2008)
A Walk on the Beach and Bluffs of Lake Michigan
Where: Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve, Highland Park, IL
When: Sunday, August 17 - 2:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
What: Spreading Juniper is a state-threatened, easily identified evergreen shrub known only from the bluffs and dune habitats along Lake County's Lake Michigan shoreline. Large populations occur at Illinois Beach State Park, with smaller populations known from the bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan from Lake Bluff to Glencoe. A few isolated populations occur at Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve, though exact numbers and locations are not fully known. This outing will be an opportunity to locate and count “all” the shrubs of this easily spotted evergreen. While there we will also monitor many other rare sand dune plants that occur only along the beach.
We need volunteers who are willing to work in small groups and help find and count the plants. We will use the Level 1 monitoring protocols of Plants of Concern and will provide all the equipment and training necessary before we start. We’ll do this rain or shine, and please be prepared for mosquitoes.
(Posted on 4/9/2008)
2008 Workshop Pictures
RA Ann Kelly discusses threat assessment at Volo Bog
Ann Kelly demonstrates GPS unit usage at CBG
Volunteers measure population length at CBG with Susanne Masi
RA Rachel Goad explains population measurement at CBG
Susanne Masi helps volunteers to determine population size at CBG
RA Dani Drekich explains pacing exercise at CBG
March Newsletter
Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote, "In the Spring, a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love."
Does a POC plant monitor’s fancy also turn to thoughts of early bloomers? Considering the amount of snow we’ve shoveled and how many times we heard about the wind-chill factor, we would say “Yes”!
The POC Staff has been busy meeting with the land managers, restoration ecologists and volunteer coordinators of our beloved six county area of northeastern Illinois to insure a great year of monitoring at Plants of Concern. We just had our last meeting and will now work to process and use all the information we received. Work will begin to input the monitoring assignments for 2008, and we’ll let you all know when this is completed. We’re happy to report that we’ll be monitoring several new sites and species. This is exciting news for us and hope that you all “keep your eyes peeled when out in the field” (a new POC motto?) for newly occurring species.
With all this information we are now updating our monitored species list. We’ll be notifying you of bloom times, and of course will start out with our early bloomers. If we were in southern Illinois, we’d be looking for Hepatica nobilis var obtusa as early as March 13! After this winter, that may be enough to make some of us want to move to the warmer climes of southern Illinois!
Lastly, we burst a few buttons when we received the spring issue of “Brush Piles” with an article about POC written by our very own Eileen Sutter – first page publicity! Thanks, Eileen!
Keep “monitoring” the website for further updates and information as we move closer to the monitoring season!
(Posted on 3/3/2008)
