NEWS ARCHIVE
2007 Plants of Concern Workshops
News Article: The Chicago Wilderness Workday
December Newsletter
2007 Monitoring Season Overview
We have wrapped up another successful monitoring season, and wish to extend our sincere thanks to all of the dedicated volunteers that make Plants of Concern possible. At four 2007 Spring Workshops that were held at Volo Bog, Ryerson Woods, The Morton Arboretum and Lulu Lake in southern Wisconsin, we recruited and trained 71 new volunteers for the 2007 monitoring season! 181 active “Citizen Scientists” monitored 137 species at 155 sites in northeastern Illinois, all in an incredible 1,422 hours. (Must be some kind of record!). To date, we’ve received 585 monitoring forms (have we received YOURS?). Our highly competent in-office volunteer staff worked a total of 279 hours inputting data on monitoring and land management forms, filing and generally being there when the POC staff needed an extra hand. (Thanks, Gil, Nancy and Bob!). We also secured key grants that enable the continuation of the work that Plants of Concern has begun, namely from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (Wildlife Preservation Fund – Tax Check-off), and the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. It was a busy year that we hope to only improve upon in 2008!
2008 Training Workshops
We have finalized the plans for our 2008 Spring Workshops. Click here to download the information sheet for the upcoming monitoring workshops in April, including dates, times, locations, and a description of events. New monitors are asked to attend a workshop for valuable instruction, and returning monitors are welcomed and encouraged to attend for a refresher. The field work that volunteers do is instrumental to the success of Plants of Concern, and we always have a need for more monitors—we welcome newcomers and appreciate your time!
Volunteer Monitor Survey Reminder
Just a reminder for our current volunteers - if you haven’t sent us your 2007 Volunteer Survey, there is still time to do so. We know how busy you are, but PLEASE take a few minutes to let us know how we’re doing, what more we can do to make your job easier, and any important comments you have that will help us make POC better! We want to do this most important job the best we can, and only you can give us the first hand information that we need. It just takes a few minutes! You can find the survey on our website www.plantsofconcern.org. If you need assistance, please let us know and we’ll be happy to help! To those of you who have already sent us your completed survey, THANKS!
For Your Enjoyment!
The Chicago Botanic Garden’s Wonderland Express invites you on a magical train tour of Chicago’s major landmarks while never having to leave the Regenstein Center! POC Staff Review –“Four Thumbs UP!” “Five Stars!” A Must See!” Please take time to visit the Garden for this wonderful event! For more information: www.chicagobotanic.org
Again, thanks for all you do. We wish you a Happy and Peaceful Holiday, and a Most Joyful New Year!
Susanne Masi, POC Coordinator, Marian Hofherr, POC Program Assistant/Volunteer Coordinator, Ann Kelly, POC Research Assistant and Emily Kapler, Midewin Research Assistant.
(Posted on 12/03/2007)
October Newsletter
2007 Volunteer Monitor Evaluation Survey
In order to keep Plants of Concern moving ahead for the future, we are sending a Volunteer Monitor Evaluation Survey to gather information on how we can improve the program. We have worked hard for the past six years to provide a good experience for your work in the field, but we realize there’s always room for improvement. Don’t be shy about giving us your opinions - no one could provide more relevant suggestions than our current volunteers! Please take the time to fill out this survey and return it to us no later than December 1, 2007.
We Have a New Slogan – “No Forms Left Behind!”
It’s that time of year as the season winds down and we make sure all the monitoring and land management forms are submitted to the POC office. Please help us make our slogan a reality and send in your forms, if you haven’t already done so. Online submission is still the preferred method, followed by your field copies by “snail mail” or scanned images via e-mail. If you have any questions about online submission, or would like to set-up a login and password, please contact Marian Hofherr, mhofherr@chicagobotanic.org
Attention monitors who enter forms on the website: We have a small problem with form submission that we have yet to overcome. If you have any reason to indicate units in “feet” in the Notes or Directions fields, please refrain from using the single quote symbol (‘) and instead use ‘ft’ or ‘feet.’ Please bear with us until we solve the issue. Thanks for your help!
A gentle reminder - please mail the original to Plants of Concern, and a copy to your landowner. For those of you who have already done this, thank you! If not, you can expect an e-mail or phone call for a more “up-close and personal” reminder!
It is so important that we receive your reports on time, as it enables us to begin data entry and analysis. This valuable information is then put into the hands of our land managers, which is the ultimate purpose of POC! We also use the data to acquire grants and receive permits in a timely fashion.
Chicago Wilderness Habitat Hootenanny 2007
The weather cooperated in great fashion on September 30th for our annual volunteer appreciation event. The mosquitoes were held at bay by a steady breeze and we were able to enjoy a wonderful array of potluck dishes as we celebrated all the important volunteer work done during the past year on behalf of our environment. We have included some pictures of this year’s party, and hope to persuade those of you who haven’t yet attended the “Hootenanny” to make it a point to come next year!
This year, Plants of Concern honored twelve of our “Citizen Scientists” for outstanding work in monitoring our rare and endangered species. They are:
Laurie Boldt
Joyce Proper
Don Wilson
Margaret Martin
Joan DiLeonardi
Valisa Starr
Marita Kuhl
Margo Milde
Elaine Tinberg
Steve Thomas
Joan Palincsar
Kerry Swift
Here are a few pictures from the event:
We want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of our volunteers for your generous efforts to conserve our environment for the future by volunteering for Plants of Concern! Here are a few statistics that YOU have helped to create. Since Plants of Concern was founded in 2001 with an ever-growing force of dedicated volunteers:
YOU have monitored 176 species in 6 Illinois counties - 56% of those being threatened or endangered.
YOU have monitored 40-50% of the known endangered/threatened species element occurrences in NE Illinois.
YOU have armed land managers with the information they need to set management goals to continue to protect and recover our region’s rare plants.
YOU are part of a team of over 320 volunteers who have put in over 8,735 hours working with Plants of Concern.
(Posted on 10/15/2007)
August Newsletter
Keep Your Eye On Our Website!
You will notice that the POC website is the place to go for updates regarding POC happenings. You’ll want to visit often to learn more about the program and what “concerns” us as we work to promote conservation for ourselves and our families. www.plantsofconcern.org.
Keep those Forms Coming!
For those of you who have completed your monitoring assignments and have already submitted your forms to us and to your landowner, many thanks! However, there are some sites that have been monitored that do not have updated Land Management Forms. As you know, these contain very important information for our research data and should be included with every Monitoring Form submitted. If you have any questions or if we can be of any assistance with this, please let us know!
We remind those of you who have monitored but not yet sent in your forms, please do so ASAP! We can’t stress enough the importance of sending in your Monitoring and Land Management Forms in a prompt manner. This helps us keep ahead of the heavy end-of season workload. As you know, after you submit your forms online we require that you send us your field copy by mail, or you can drop them off at the Chicago Botanic Garden Information Desk located in the Gateway Center. Please indicate on the outside of the envelope that it goes to Plants of Concern – Attn: Marian Hofherr.
If for any reason you were not able to monitor this year, please let us know that as well. We still want you to be a part of POC and encourage you to sign up for next year!
Help Us Update our Contact List!
We all know that there are times when we take advantage of offers to switch internet providers for a variety of reasons. This involves changing our e-mail address, and it’s so important for you to alert us when any changes in your e-mail address occur. Our primary source of communication is through e-mails, although we do send hard copies of our communiqués through the mail for those of you who don’t have e-mail access. We are trying very hard to keep our “Undeliverable” messages as low as we can! Thank you for your help with this!
Save The Date!
Plants of Concern is joining with the Chicago Wilderness Habitat Project to create a memorable Volunteer Appreciation Event!
Celebrate autumn and the winding down of another glorious field season with other monitors, stewards, advocates, and friends, at the 3rd Annual Habitat Hootenanny, Sunday, Sept 30, 3 pm till dusk, at Salt Creek Park in northeastern DuPage County.
Bring a dish to share, as well as any instruments you may play or games to share. Kids and families are welcome, too! We’ll have a real hot dog cart and wonderful pot-luck dishes to share! Here’s some suggested pot-luck assignments:
Plant monitors: Veggies and salads
Stewards: Main dishes
Frog and bird monitors: Appetizers or side dishes
Butterfly and dragonfly monitors: Desserts
Featured Events:
Way-Out Wilderness Awards. Nominate a friend for an award honoring their bravery, mettle, humor, accomplishments, or spirit. See suggested categories at www.habitatproject.org, and send your nominations to kglennemeier@audubon.org.
Networking and Recruiting. Share your local group’s mission with other people.
Kids’ Art Table.
Swap Table. Bring items that you no longer need but that others might appreciate.
New Happenings: Reserve a one-minute slot to tell everyone about something new you’d like us all to know about.
Salt Creek Park is located on the north side of Elizabeth Drive, east of Addison Road and west of Wood Dale Road. Exit I-290 at Rte. 83 and head north to 3rd Ave., then west to Wood Dale Rd., and north to Elizabeth.
RSVPs appreciated, to Marian Hofherr mhofherr@chicagobotanic.org or 847-835-6873
Finally, we can’t say it enough – thanks for all you do to protect our rare and endangered species in our area! The Plants of Concern program would not be in existence without your efforts!
(Posted on 8/17/2007)
Spring Rare Plant Forays
Join POC staff in a search to find the locations for some lovely rare spring bloomers. We are certain to find plants!! We’ll also have a chance to look at many other spring forbs in bloom.
Florsheim Nature Preserve, Lincolnshire
Thursday, May 3 - 9:30 a.m. to noon
Join POC staff - Susanne Masi, POC Coordinator and Botanist
Steve Kroiss, Research Assistant
Emily Kapler, Research Assistant
Elm Road Forest Preserve, Vernon Hills
Saturday, May 19 9 a.m. to noon
Join FPD staff - Ken Klick, Ecologist at Lake County Forest Preserve District
We will spread out in small groups to count plants, GPS all the rare plant locations over a 15-acre area, and take other Level 1 Monitoring data.
We will send directions to the meeting place a few days in advance of the forays.
If you are interested in attending these forays, please email Steve Kroiss at skroiss@chicagobotanic.org
(Posted on 4/10/2007)
2007 Plants of Concern Workshops
* Saturday, March 31 Volo Bog (Ingleside, Lake County)
* Sunday, April 15 Morton Arboretum (Lisle, Du Page County)
* Sunday, April 22 Ryerson Woods (Deerfield, Lake County)
Workshops will be held from 9:30 to 3:00 . This workshop will give you an opportunity to learn monitoring skills and to select a monitoring assignment or will refresh your skills for the new season. We strongly encourage any monitors who have never been to a workshop to attend.
What the workshop provides:
- An introduction to Plants of Concern, a rare plant monitoring program for NE Illinois, funded by Chicago Wilderness, the Wildlife Preservation Fund, USFS (Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie), CorLands, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and C2000.
- Training in the basics of monitoring techniques, including measuring and mapping populations and using a GPS unit.
- A chance to meet representatives of the Forest Preserve Districts and Illinois Department of Natural Resources who will present their monitoring opportunities. Monitoring positions are available in Cook, Kane, Lake, DuPage, McHenry, and Will counties.
- Introduction to “Early Detection/Rapid Response” program for invasive species.
- An opportunity to meet seasoned monitors who will share their experiences
Bring a lunch. Morning refreshments will be served.
Registration is required . A confirmation will be sent after registration and directions will follow shortly before workshop date.
Please contact Steve Kroiss, skroiss@chicagobotanic.org, (847) 835-6856.
2007 is the seventh season of Plants of Concern rare plant monitoring. Coordinated through the Chicago Botanic Garden by Research Botanist Susanne Masi, POC has worked with land-owners and a dedicated corps of over 150 volunteers. Trained volunteers have used standardized protocols to gather invaluable data on 318 occurances of rare plants over the past four years. (Susanne Masi, smasi@chicagobotanic.org, 847-835-8269).
(Download the announcement as a Word document)
(Posted on 3/19/2007)
March Newsletter
Hello New and Veteran Plants of Concern Monitors!
As we gear up for the 2007 monitoring season, we hope you are as eager to get outdoors into the field as we are! To provide you with an idea of what POC has done in the past year, we will give you a review of our season, as well as update you on some news and our upcoming workshops. We look forward to welcoming new monitors to the program, and our seasoned volunteers back for another great year!
2006 Monitoring Season Overview
We are wrapping up another successful monitoring season here at the Garden, thanks to all of the dedicated volunteers that make POC possible. Last year, our over 150 monitors trained for 425 hours, did in-office volunteer work for over 250 hours, and monitored in the field a whopping 1,350 hours. We retained more than 70% of volunteers from 2005, and added over 35 new monitors to the program. Plants of Concern is now monitoring 108 species at 131 sites! We also secured key grants that enable the continuation of the work that Plants of Concern has begun, namely from Chicago Wilderness, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, C2000, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. It was a busy year that we hope to only improve upon in 2007!
Training Workshops
Attached is the information sheet for the upcoming monitoring workshops in late March and April, including dates, times, locations, and a description of events. New monitors are strongly urged to attend a workshop for valuable instruction, and returning monitors are welcome to attend for a refresher. If you have monitored for Plants of Concern in the past but have never attended a monitoring session, you are encouraged to gain this valuable training now. The field work that volunteers do is instrumental to the success of Plants of Concern, and we always have a need for more monitors-we welcome newcomers and appreciate your time! Please RSVP to Emily if you will attend, and be sure to include which session you prefer. If you have already signed up for a workshop, please let Emily know if you have any species or location preferences, questions, or concerns!
Thank you so much in advance for your time and commitment to Plants of Concern, and we look forward to seeing you at our training workshops.
Seasoned Volunteers
We are currently working on monitoring assignments for the upcoming season, and would like to confirm that you will be returning to Plants of Concern in 2007. We have already spoken to many of you, and are excited that the vast number of returning monitors will be with us in bogs, fens, and prairies as soon as the snow melts! If you would like to contact us regarding your status as a monitor, please feel free to do so at anytime. We are looking for any volunteer who has monitored for POC in the past and is willing to mentor a new monitor, or just looking for a partner to monitor with; please contact us of you would be willing to have another volunteer accompany you on your assignment. If you would like to add a new site or species to your repertoire, or have another preference for an assignment, please let us know; if we do not hear from you regarding your 2007 assignment, we will look forward to having you visit your plants again this year! We will send your assignments for your review and confirmation, along with last year’s reports, by May.
Wild Things
Join Plants of Concern at the Wild Things conference! Sponsored by Chicago Wilderness and the Audubon Society, Wild Things “brings together the region's best experts, most dedicated volunteers and anyone interested in nature. Technical presentations and interactive workshops will explore the latest in natural areas preservation, wildlife protection and monitoring. The conference is organized in "tracks" designed for everyone from beginners to experts. There is special focus on empowering citizen scientists, stewards and advocates with information, networking and good ideas.” For more information, please visit the Wild Things Conference web site.
Plants of Concern will be hosting a booth at Wild Things, as well as sharing a breakout session on monitoring projects. We are looking for volunteers who will be attending the conference to meet and greet interested visitors at our booth; please contact Emily if you are willing to sit for a half hour to an hour and represent POC. Time slots are available throughout the day.
Please stop by our booth and come hear our joint monitoring presentation; we look forward to seeing you there!
We can’t wait to start the new season with you…here’s to an early spring!
(Posted on 3/19/2007)
FIRST POC Potluck!
The POC Potluck was a big success! We all enjoyed great food, beautiful weather, and Eli's cheesecake while honoring award recipients and mingling with friends...we hope to make it an annual event! Many thanks to Eli's for their generous donation, and to the Volunteer Stewardship Network for providing the grant that made this event possible. If you would like one of the POC pins that we distributed at the potluck, stop by and see me anytime!
Here are some pictures we took at the potluck. If you have some of your own that you would like to share, please email them to me (brosenbaum@chicagobotanic.org.)
