ELM Annual Plan CY1999

Fermilab Annual Ecological Land Management Plan
for Calendar Year 1999
developed by
The Fermilab Ecological Land Management Committee
1/7/99

 

 

I. Introduction

The Annual Ecological Land Management Plan lists the most significant accomplishments during the period October 1997 through December 1998. The second part of the plan offers recommendations for a coherent, priority set of activities for Calendar Year 1999, which incrementally advances the goals in the Long-Range Ecological Land Management Plan. The Committee makes these recommendations with the suggestion that the resources which the Lab can make available for ecological land management be applied to these activities. It is understood that the judgment of those doing the work will prevail on the details of implementation and that changes in scope and detail will occur. The Committee would like to be informed of significant changes during the regular meetings.

Attached to this report is a copy of the Fermilab Land Management Plan Map for reference. The map has been updated to include the names of the lakes and show changes in the horse trails.

II. Executive Summary

A. Highlights of Accomplishments

B. Key Recommendations for Calendar Year 1999

 

III. Ecological Land Management Accomplishments from October1997 through December 1998

Activities conducted throughout the site are summarized and listed below. The attached ELM Tract Annual Management Plan Sheets detail accomplishments in each ELM tract.

A. Harvests
  1. The attendance at the volunteer harvests in 1997 exceeded 450 people, a record turnout. Record amounts of several forbs were collected, and seeds were collected from some species for the first time. About 288 people attended the 1998 volunteer harvest. Despite the lower turnout, the harvest was excellent because there were more volunteer guides and paths were mowed to areas where selected species were plentiful.
  2. Five trips were made to Markham Prairie and one trip was made to the Vermont Cemetery to hand-harvest seed. Seed from lead plant, bush clover, partridge pea, white and purple prairie clover, rough blazing star, and cowbane was collected. Seed from wood lily and bottle gentians was hand collected in the remnant prairies at the Burlington and the EJ&E Railroads.
  3. A new combine, purchased this year, is more reliable and productive, and produces cleaner seed. Prairie seed was machine-harvested in ELM tracts 8, 24, 25, and 28. More than 32,000 pounds of prairie matrix seed were collected. Some forbs--for example yellow cone flowers, sweet black-eyed susan and wild quinine, which previously could only be hand-harvested--are now abundant enough to harvest with the combine. In future years hand-harvests can be focused on more scarce species.
  4. A commercial vendor, Applied Ecological Services, harvested yellow coneflower with his own equipment in ELM 28. The Lab's share of the seed, 30 percent, will be traded at catalog price for other seed that we need for enrichment. Fermilab harvested matrix seed in ELM tracts 24 and 25 for the same vendor. The Lab will get 50 percent of the cleaned seed, which will also be traded for seed to enrich our prairie. Final seed amounts will not be known until the vendor finishes seed cleaning in late winter 1999.
  5. In 1997 and 1998 Argonne Lab brought groups of volunteers to hand-harvest forbs. In return, we gave them seed for the prairie they are establishing.

B. Tracts Enriched
  1. Parts of ELM tracts 1, 4, 24, 25, and 26 were burned and drilled with an enrichment mix. Parts of ELM tracts 1 and 25 were enriched by broadcasting an enrichment mix. Woodland understory seed was hand-broadcast in ELM 2 and ELM 24.
  2. About 200 people planted about 135 new trees and bushes in the northern part of ELM 24 during the 1998 Arbor Day activities. Species planted included bur oak, black walnut, American plum, red oak, and nanny berry.
  3. In anticipation of the NuMI construction, some young oaks were moved within ELM 24. Young oak trees were also redistributed in ELM 2. Some small oaks from ELM 3 were moved to ELM 26.

C. New Prairie Planted

About 20 acres of new prairie were planted in ELM 10. About 6 acres were planted in ELM 22 to establish a low-maintenance base. About 35 acres of prairie were planted in ELM 26 west of the MI berm.

D. Ongoing Improvement Programs
  1. Non-native, noxious, and exotic weeds were sprayed with herbicide in ELM tracts 1, 5, 10, 19, 20, and 25. Teasel and Purple Loosestrife were the primary targets. Buckthorn, honey suckle, and oriental bittersweet were sprayed in the Big Woods in ELM 24.
  2. Meson Hill was capped and seeded.
  3. About 10 percent of the largest non-native trees were removed in ELM 14.
  4. The following areas were burned: all of ELM 1 and ELM 25. Parts of ELM tracts 4, 23, 24, 25, and 26 were also burned.

E. Status of Flora and Fauna
  1. Deer Management

    2. The project to control the deer population on-site began operation during the last part of 1997. USDA sharpshooters, accompanied by Lab personnel, conducted operations in February and March of 1998. Operations began again in November of 1998 and will continue until March of 1999. The goal for this period is to make a substantial reduction in population, and come closer to the ultimate goal of a herd that is in equilibrium with the entire ecosystem.

  2. Bird Populations

    3. Peter Kasper maintains a Web site (http://www.fnal.gov/ecology/wildlife/list.html) that contains a great deal of information about the bird life at Fermilab.

    This year the most notable changes in terms of breeding species was the increase in the number of Bell's Vireos nesting in ELM 14, which has developed into ideal habitat for this species. This was also the second year in which a Yellow-Throated Vireo nested in the Education Center canal area. A pair of Upland Sandpipers returned to ELM 16, but whether they bred successfully is unknown. Short-Eared Owls have also returned to this area this winter, which demonstrates that the current mowing schedule has not negatively affected them.

    The resident Canada Geese had poor breeding success again this year; however, numbers of migrant/wintering geese are as high as ever. Interestingly, there seems to be a much larger proportion of the small "cackling geese" races than normal. There are also a lot more Snow Geese than usual.

    This year's bird migration was characterized by a very poor spring migration for woodland birds with record low numbers of warblers and thrushes being found. The fall migration, however, was considerably better, with low water levels on Lake Law and Main Ring Lake attracting many shorebirds including a new species for the Lab. Three new species were added to the Fermilab bird list this year, bringing the current tally up to 265.

  3. Status of Flora at Fermilab

    There are 254 native prairie and prairie marsh species and 192 native tree and shrub species found at Fermilab. In addition, there are 118 species of non-native (exotic) herbaceous weeds and 30 species of non-native trees and shrubs. In total, there are approximately 600 species. Most, but not all, of the non-native species are confined to roadsides, ditches, berms, and other disturbed areas.

    New Species

    The first prairie was planted at Fermilab over 20 years ago. Each year the established prairie has been enriched with seed from most species of prairie plants known to be native to this area. Thus, most of the expected species are already present and very few new native species are expected to be found. However, two new native species were found in 1998. A small colony of one-flowered broom rape was discovered in the prairie along the Burlington-Northern railroad. This is a relatively rare plant, a root-parasite without chlorophyll. The second new find was the fringed gentian; a few plants were observed in a low area along Pine Street in ELM 25.

    Non-native plants find abundant opportunities in the conditions unfavorable to the native plants. Thus, we expect to find new small, non-native, nondescript plants along salt-contaminated roads, in trampled ground around buildings, and in disturbed areas around new construction. The garden heliotrope, a garden ornamental that occasionally escapes cultivation, was the only non-native species found in 1998. It was discovered in the brushy disturbed area of ELM 14.

    Prairie Plant Populations Changes

    There has been a noticeable increase in the populations of second stage prairie plants during the last few years, especially during 1998. In ELM 1, the area of earliest restoration, significant population increases were seen in the following species:

    round-headed bush clover mountain mint
    false dragonhead nodding wild onion
    prairie coreopsis wild quinine
    rattlesnake master lead plant
    purple and white prairie clovers marsh phlox
    yellow star-grass (an amaryllis) golden Alexanders
    blue eyed-grass (an iris) prairie dropseed grass

    In ELM 26 there was a continued increase in the populations of rattlesnake master and in the tall, spectacular blue blazing stars. Increases in these two species were also noted in ELM 1. There was a noticeable increase in populations of three of the four gentians found at Fermilab: stiff gentian in ELM 1 and in ELM 25; closed gentian in ELM 1 and ELM 25; and yellow gentian in ELM 26.

    Populations of the Eurasian teasel and Purple Loosestrife have been brought under control by Roads and Grounds. Careful monitoring of the tall and aggressive common reed found in ditches and roadsides at Fermilab should continue. It is likely to become a problem and will need to be controlled.

    Status of Marshes

    The prairie marshes continued to show increased populations of bulrushes, spike rushes, sedges, monkey flower, fog fruit, horehounds, and various mints. Small colonies of the impressive cardinal flower are cropping up in a number of marshes in ELM 1 and in ELM 25. Enrichment efforts have been successful in increasing populations of the two native marsh grasses: prairie cord and blue-joint grasses. The larger amount of grass will give increased fuel-load with concomitant better burns. More intense fires will better control woody vegetation along marsh edges and stimulate increases in the populations of other marsh plants.

    Status of Woods

    In contrast to the prairies and marshes, the ground cover in the woods has been severely degraded by deer. The remaining ground cover is dominated by the non-native garlic mustard that is not grazed by deer. Results at Fermilab and elsewhere indicate that burning is helpful in controlling this noxious weed.

    The observed recovery of the ground cover within the two exclosures, which were fenced five years ago, offers hope for improvement if the deer population is brought under control. In the meantime, non-native woody plants are slowly being eliminated by the cutting and use of herbicides. This will open up woodland edges and allow for the influx of native woody plants.

  4. Status of the Buffalo Herd

    Fermilab has maintained a herd of Bison on site since 1969. Last spring 35 calves were born. Fermilab maintains the herd size between 40 and 50 breeding animals. Typically, most of the calves, and sometimes older animals are sold by sealed bid each fall.

F. NERP Research Projects

Two of the four projects listed as ongoing last year are still underway.

  1. Jastrow - Soil and Mycorrhizal Fungi Response to Prairie Restoration.
  2. Sluis - Successional Dynamics in a Prairie Reconstruction.

Studies by Younger and Weis have been completed.

Of the three new projects listed last year, two have been completed, and one is ongoing.

  1. Bever - Biodiversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and the Success of Prairie Restoration (ongoing).
  2. Suchecki - Point-Count Breeding Bird Surveys in Fermilab's Prairie Restoration (completed).
  3. Sellars - Measurement of Infiltration Rates on Midwestern Prairie Restorations in the Chicago Region (completed).

The project by Vihnanek has been completed. This was part of a study to quantify fuels/biomass on sites in various ecosystems.

 

G. Other Accomplishments/Special Projects
  1. Fermilab is a general member of the Chicago Wilderness. The primary aim of Chicago Wilderness is to provide a forum for land management and conservation agencies/owners to coordinate conservation efforts and to develop a "Recovery Plan" for the areas of wilderness in the Chicago region. Chicago Wilderness also provides funding and other support for research projects aimed at similar and compatible goals. As the holder of one of the largest contiguous pieces of property among the Chicago Wilderness members, Fermilab provides a unique opportunity for research. One of our aims is to stimulate the use of Fermilab for this purpose in partnership with Chicago Wilderness. Three of the four newest NERP projects have come about as a direct result of this fruitful association with Chicago Wilderness.

  2. Negotiations were begun with the Burlington Northern Railroad to allow Fermilab to do the plant control maintenance along our rail spur. This can eliminate the annual destruction of some valuable prairie plants in the remnant prairie.

  3. Information about ecological land management activities and facts was put on the WWW. Restoration activities are at:

    4. http://www.fnal.gov/pub/elm/natres.html

    A plant identification database has been established at:

    http://www-ed.fnal.gov/lasso/plant_search/search.html

  4. Native plants were used in landscaping around the Main Injector service buildings. It was decided that prairie will be a cost-effective cover up to the outside banks of the Main Injector cooling lakes. Between the inside banks and the road, turf grasses will be maintained, at least for the next few years.

  5. The prairie within the Tevatron was dedicated to Dr. Robert Betz, the founder and spiritual guide for the prairie restoration activities the past 25 years.

  6. The Noon Volunteer program was launched. Seed collection and cleanup were the major activities.

  7. A letter of recognition was received from Renew America for outstanding commitment and leadership on our Natural Areas Program.

H. Community Participation

Granger Middle School children were on-site three days doing volunteer work. This included about 70 students helping with cleanup and planting activities. A large contingent of Wheaton Warrenville High School students put in a full day of hand-harvesting seed.

Fermilab hosted the Illinois Native Plant Society Annual Meeting. About 200 people from throughout the state attended the one-day meeting.

Fermilab exchanged prairie seeds with the DuPage, DeKalb, Kane, Will, and Kendall Forest Preserve Districts. The city or park districts of DeKalb, St. Charles, Kankakee, and Village of Sleepy Hollow also participated in seed exchanges. The exchange program included Argonne Lab, Cantigny, Elmhurst Prairie, Hinsdale Prairie, Indian Boundaries Prairie, West Chicago Prairie Steward Group, Fox Valley Land Foundation, Fox River Water Reclamation District, Openlands Project, and the Red Oak Nature Preserve.

Seed was donated to 17 area schools, (including 4 high schools, 5 junior highs, and 8 elementary schools) and to 7 other municipalities, soil and water districts, etc.

IV. Recommendations for Calendar Year 1999

The Committee believes that the first priority must be the ongoing maintenance and improvement activities (e.g., mowing, burning, enrichment, redistribution of small trees, and spraying of herbicides) conducted by the Roads and Grounds personnel. These activities are critical to maintaining and building on ecological improvements already achieved. The recommendations below are activities, in addition to maintenance activities, which will further the long-range goals already established.

A. Special Projects

The Committee recommends the following special projects, some of which are already planned.

  1. Although the technical areas are outside the normal scope of the Committee’s consideration, some Committee members have made suggestions for ecological improvements in the management of those areas. The Committee should propose improvements in the vegetation on berms, along roadsides, and along drainage ditches in technical areas. Some members have proposed that prairie matrix be planted in the buffalo pasture--RA-3.

  2. The Committee recommends implementation of the project developed to "reclaim" the Village Oxidation Pond, improve drainage in AG tract 4, and incrementally increase the storm water capacity of the A. E. Sea and DUSAF Pond. In doing this, the Lab 5/6 pond will be eliminated, the water from this course will be diverted through the Oxidation Pond, the berm around the Oxidation will be cut, and the spillway for the A. E. Sea will be improved. The level of the DUSAF Pond and the A. E. Sea will be reduced for two years so that various wetland species of natural vegetation can be established in the basin while it is dry.

  3. The Committee also recommends implementing a plan to improve maintenance of ELM 14. The long-range plan for ELM 14 calls for each year removing about 10 percent of the largest non-native trees in order to keep it in an intermediate successional stage. This maintenance is resource intensive and, even then, the Gray Dogwood, crown vetch, and other weedy species are not being controlled. During 1999 the west half will be burned. Various techniques, including the burning, herbicides, etc. will be tested to find a cost-effective, ecologically sound method to achieve the maintenance goal. The techniques developed in this tract will be useful in controlling these weedy species in other tracts.

  4. Little Bluestem may be a good native grass to establish in areas where short grasses are wanted to encourage the nesting of grassland birds. The Committee suggests that a test plot be established to see if we can grow it here. For example, since ELM 14 is an area where we are encouraging shorter grasses, a nearby plot could be used for the test, e.g., the northern part of ELM 12. Using ELM 12 would not interfere with the other studies in ELM 14 (see item 3 above).

  5. Expand the program of broadcast-planting oak, hickory, and walnut tree seed to include ELM 2 and ELM 27. This has promise of being a very cost-effective way of not only growing new trees along edges of existing woods but also producing seedling trees available for transplant in tracts being developed as woods.

  6. Consider conducting a study with part (perhaps 5 acres) of the new prairie to be planted in ELM 23. Study how the application of herbicides before spring growth and mowing affect how quickly various prairie plant species are established. For example, treat 1/4th with both spray and mowing, treat 1/4th with neither, treat 1/4th by mowing only, and treat the other 1/4th with herbicide only. This program should be carried out for several years to compensate for annual variations in environmental factors.

  7. Continue the program of restoring the land along Giese Road on which there are old spoil piles. The restoration includes removing existing cottonwood trees, hauling old spoil piles to the landfill, and reestablishing native vegetation.

  8. The Committee continues to encourage on-site volunteer and/or scientific surveys of flora and fauna--for example, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and small mammals.

B. Recommendations for each ELM Tract

Specific recommendations for each ELM tract are indicated on the ELM Tract Annual Management Plan Sheets which follow. The second column is copied from the Long-Range Management Plan. The third column is a copy of the FY 98 Plan. The fourth column indicates what was done in that tract during the period October 1997 through December 1998. The fifth column contains the Committee recommendations for CY 1999. The recommendations are based on what the Committee believes is the next logical step in moving toward the long-range goal, tempered with the Committee's estimation of what resources may be available during the year.

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