ELM Annual Plan CY2000

Fermilab Annual Ecological Land Management Plan

For Calendar Year 2000

Developed by

The Fermilab Ecological Land Management Committee
1/13/00

 

 

  1. Introduction

    2.

    The Ecological Land Management Committee prepares the Fermilab Annual Ecological Land Management Plan for approval by the Fermilab Director. The first part of the Plan lists the most significant accomplishments during CY 1999. The second part of the plan contains the Committee’s recommendations for a coherent, prioritized set of activities for Calendar Year 2000, which incrementally advances the goals in the Long Range Ecological Land Management Plan. The Committee makes these recommendations with the suggestion that 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 Fermilab Land Management Plan Map (See CY 2000 Fermilab Land Management Map) has been updated to show the NuMI and MiniBooNE projects areas in ELM 24.

     

  2. Ecological Land Management Accomplishments in Calendar Year 1999

    3.

    A summary of activities throughout the site is listed below. The attached ELM Tract Annual Management Plan Sheets detail accomplishments in each ELM tract.

    1. Harvests

      1. The attendance at the volunteer harvests in 1999 exceeded 400 people (See Hand Harvest 1 and Hand Harvest 2). Some of the more important forbs collected include bush clover, obedient plant, nodding wild onion, wild quinine, and prairie coreopsis.
      2. One trip was made to Markam Prairie. Seed from lead plant, white and purple prairie clover, blazing star, prairie drop seed, and Sullivan’s milkweed was collected. Seed from wood lily, Culver’s root, prairie sunflower, spiderwort, and bottle gentian was hand collected in the remnant prairie at the Burlington Railroad.
      3. Bob Betz collected the following species for Fermilab at the Hinsdale Prairie: Culver’s root, purple and white prairie clovers, New Jersey tea, prairie gentian, alum root, heath aster, and smooth blue aster. In the past few years, Fermilab has donated prairie grass seed to the Hinsdale Prairie. (See Seed Cleaning.)
      4. Prairie seed was machine harvested (See Machine Harvest) in ELM tracts 8, 24, 25, and 28. More than 18,000 pounds of prairie matrix seed was collected. About 6,000 pounds will be traded for forbs for enrichment.
      5. Fermilab traded, with a commercial vendor, approximately 3000 pounds of big bluestem and yellow coneflower seed for various native species needed for enrichment of the existing tracts. These were the types of plants commonly found in fully developed, mature prairies, yet still rare in the Fermilab prairie tracts. We also acquired little bluestem seed to develop a small nursery for future projects.

    2. Tracts Enriched

      1. Parts of ELM tracts 1 and 25 were drilled (See Machine Planting) with an enrichment mix. An enrichment mix was broadcast in parts of ELM tracts 1 and 4.
      2. About 100 people planted about 125 new trees and bushes in the northern part of ELM 24 during the 1999 Arbor Day activities (See Arbor Day). Species planted included bur oak, black walnut, American plum, white oak, and hawthorns. About half these trees were taken from ELM 4, where they were growing too close together.
      3. About 15 trees and bushes, including hawthorn and swamp white oaks, were moved prior to the start of the NuMI construction, from a wet area in ELM 25 to a similar wet area in ELM 24.

    3. New Prairie Planted

      1. About 18 acres of new prairie were planted in ELM 23.
      2. About 2 acres of little bluestem were planted in ELM 12. This is a test to determine if we can grow little bluestem in ELM 14.

    4. Ongoing Improvement Programs

      1. As part of the noxious weed control program, teasel was sprayed in ELM tracts 19, 20, 24, 25, and 26. Loosestrife control was conducted in ELM tracts 1, 9, 11, 14, and 15; buckthorn and honeysuckle in ELM tracts 24 and 25; and cottonwood in ELM 1. Roads and Grounds, who conducts the control program, reports that the resources available do not keep up with the spread of these exotic species. The number of areas where they are found continues to grow annually.
      2. Parts of ELM tracts 1, 2, 3, 4, 23 24, 25 and 28 were burned (See Burning). The east half of ELM 14 was burned. A prairie burn history and plan was developed (See Burn Plan).

    5. Status of Flora and Fauna

      1. Status of Flora at Fermilab
        Robert F. Betz (See         Botanical Report-Fermilab 1999) prepared the annual status report of flora on-site.

        2. Additional information about ecological land management activities and facts is available in the Natural Areas Restoration site.

        A database of some of the plants identified at Fermilab has been established in the Find Plants in the Fermilab Prairie site.

      2. Status of the On-Site Bird Populations

        3. Peter Kasper prepared the annual report on the on-site bird population, 1999 Fermilab Bird Report.

        Peter Kasper also maintains the on-going compilation of bird observations since 1987, The Birds of Fermilab.

      3. Wildlife Management

        4. White-tailed deer continue to be the major focus of wildlife management at Fermilab. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services group conducted deer removals from November 1998 until March 1999, bringing the herd closer to the target density of approximately 10 animals per square mile. During the growing season of 1999, various subtle signs of these efforts were noted. The following species were noticeably more abundant throughout the forests located in the west half of the site:

        Phlox divaricata
        Blephilia hirsuta
        Arisaema triphyllum
        Impatiens capensis
        Impatiens pallida
        Campanula americana

        In addition to these observations in the forest, two species that have been demonstrated to be favorite forage for deer in the prairie, Baptisia leucantha and Desmodium canadense were observed to be more abundant in the center of the Main Ring and in the relatively young restoration along Kirk Road.

        Comparison of browse lines around the site gave the impression that although there is still a noticeable browse line, it tends to be less defined than in years past.

        Other wildlife species, including beaver, groundhogs, raccoons, and pigeons are controlled by the Roads and Grounds Department. Canada geese continue to constitute a nuisance species, however no controls have been implemented for them.

      4. Status of Butterflies at Fermilab

        5. Tom Peterson prepared the first annual report on a survey of butterflies on-site, Butterfly Report—Fermilab—1999.

    6. NERP Research Projects

      7. The "Measurement of Infiltration Rates on Midwestern Prairie Restorations in the Chicago Region" study was completed in 1999. Five projects are underway, including the following:

      1. James D. Bever, "Biodiversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and the Success of the Prairie Restoration"
      2. Brenda Molano, "Differences in Reproductive Success of Prairie Plant Species between Restored and Remnant Prairies"
      3. Wayne Lampa, "Tracking Natural Community Fragmentation and Changes in Land Use and Land Cover: A case study of Chicago Wilderness"
      4. Diana Lane, "Species-specific Controls of Nutrient Cycling During Succession in Tallgrass Prairie"
      5. Julie Jastrow, "Carbon Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems"

      In addition, the following two projects have been approved, but have not yet begun work in the field:

      Roger Anderson, "Effect of species richness on the establishment and success of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)"

      V. Nuzzo and B. Blossey, "Interactions between Garlic Mustard and White-tailed deer foraging"

    7. Other Accomplishments/Special Projects

      1. About 25 pounds of little bluestem seed was planted in ELM 12.
      2. Friends of Fermilab donated money for 5 bird feeders and the winter supply of birdseed for the Lederman Science and Education Center bird feeding area.
      3. At least several dozen trees came up from the seeds planted last year in ELM 8. Another acre was planted next to that plot with seeds from black walnut, shagbark and bitternut hickory, red and white oak, hawthorn, and eastern wahoo.
      4. The Committee gained an expert on butterflies, Tom Peterson. Tom has begun a survey to monitor the butterfly population on-site. He walks a fixed route, with the same weather conditions (warm and sunny), around mid-day to record the number of species he sees. This is tabulated for the whole season. For each species, there will also be a peak total day. The monitoring is mostly done in June and July. The results will also be included in the Northern Illinois Monitor Network. The results of his 1999 work are included in this report—see Section E.
      5. Fermilab continues to be an active member of Chicago Wilderness (CW). We were represented by a display of the Fermilab Prairie Restoration at the 3rd Annual "It's Wild in Chicago" event sponsored by CW at the Field Museum in Chicago in May. Also in May, we participated in the annual CW Congress meeting, to discuss the Regional Biodiversity Recovery Plan. During the first of two seed-collecting days at the Lab, we participated in the National Public Lands Day regional event, which was sponsored by CW.
      6. A program of burning was begun in ELM 14. The maintenance program for ELM 14 calls for maintaining an intermediate successional state. The past program of removing 10% of the largest trees was not addressing the intrusion of various aggressive brush species and is resource intensive. This year the west half of the tract was burned. The Bell’s Vireos nested in the unburned portion of the site. Plans are to alternate sections burned, to control brush and to leave areas for the nesting birds.
      7. The water was pumped out of the Village Oxidation Pond (See Oxidation Pond) and the piping and spray apparatus removed. The Pond, maintained in that state through the summer, dried out. The elevation at the bottom of the Oxidation Pond is 716.5 feet, and the boards in the A.E. Sea discharge structure are set at 717.0 feet. Thus, there is the potential to maintain a few inches of water in the Oxidation Pond. After the area dried out, some relief features were constructed to provide small islands within the area of water. Seeds of various sedges were planted this fall.
      8. A portable seed dryer (See Seed Dryer) was designed and built to dry the mechanically harvested prairie seed. This solved the problem of spoilage due to moisture encountered last year. Another innovative feature introduced in the mechanical harvest is the use of burlap bags to hold prairie seed that we intend to trade to an off-site vendor.
      9. The Core of Engineers approved the Main Injector Wetland Mitigation Area Project. The Management Plan for that area is to burn it as resources allow; control cottonwoods by cutting or chemicals; enrich the area; and install very shallow piezometers to monitor the water table.

    8. Community Participation

      1. The Lab participated in National Public Lands Day, sponsored by Chicago Wilderness, by including special tours at the first fall volunteer harvest. The Kane County Citizens for the Environment helped with the tours. The Kane County Mounted Patrol sent some volunteers to help. The Batavia Women’s Club helped out by serving food. It is believed few people turned out only for the National Public Lands Day.
      2. Children from Granger Middle School cleaned up trash in ELM 25.
      3. About 200 students from Wheaton-Warrenville High School helped by hand harvesting in ELM 1 and ELM 25.
      4. Fermilab exchanged prairie seeds with the DuPage, DeKalb, Kane, Will, and Kendall Forest Preserve Districts. The exchange program included Elmhurst Prairie, Indian Boundaries Prairie, and West Chicago Prairie Steward Group.
      5. Seed was donated to 12 schools and other organizations for educational purposes.

     

  3. Recommendations for Calendar Year 2000

    4. 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.

    1. Special Projects

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

      1. The thistles in RA 2 are becoming a maintenance problem. Only about half of the field is needed each year for hay for the buffalo. The Committee concurs with a recommendation that the tract be maintained by rotating each half, alternately, through a three-year "land management AG Lease" program.
      2. The Committee recommends continuation of the project to develop the Village Oxidation Pond as a wetland.
      3. The Committee was presented a proposal to develop the eastern portion, east of the remnant fence, of ELM 17 into a long-term "AG lease for prairie plant seed." The Committee supports that proposal.
      4. The Committee also recommends the Lab continue with the implementation of a plan to improve maintenance of ELM 14. Peter Kasper has noted that the Bell’s Vireos nested in the unburned areas in 1999. The committee suggests that in CY 2000 no burning be done. If the vireos move back into the west side (burned in CY 1999) then the burning program should be restarted.
      5. The Committee continues to support a modest program of planting little bluestem as a method of finding if the conditions at Fermilab will support establishing it where short grasses are wanted to encourage the nesting of grassland birds.
      6. The Committee supports planting prairie seed in the Main Injector adjacent to the spoil pile area of ELM 4.
      7. The Committee supports a proposal to plant prairie matrix in ELM 15. ELM 15 is used for parking for large public events. It is very rough and needs to be "worked down". Each year the area is mowed to maintain it as a grassland and to ensure it is not over-run by invasive brush and trees. The Committee agrees that prairie grasses would be effective and suggests that the area continue to be maintained as a grassland.
      8. The Committee recommends the Lab consider whether establishing "Experimental Sites" for some threatened plants would introduce a special burden if the operational needs of the Lab dictated construction at that site.
      9. A group from upper Wisconsin is raising whooping cranes that they will train to migrate to Florida. They would like permission to use Fermilab for an overnight roosting spot in case of emergency. The Main Ring Lake/Logo Lake area was suggested. The Committee supports this proposal.
      10. Many places on site have an increasing population of "undesirable" trees—e.g. cottonwood and willow. In the southern part of ELM 1 and parts of ELM 6 the number and size of these trees is negatively impacting the higher quality prairie development. The MI wetland mitigation area has many small cottonwood trees. In some places these trees are growing on berms or other places where they have to be removed because of potential impact on the program. Roads and Grounds removes trees as time permits and after obtaining permission from Lab management. The time necessary to get management clearance often precludes using tree removal as "fill-in" work and thus decreases the effectiveness of this part of the land management work. The Committee suggests that the Lab develop a Tree Removal Program. The program could specify the pre-approved conditions for removal of trees. For example, perhaps pre-approval can be granted for the removal of cottonwoods and willows that are less than 6 inches in diameter, located in non-public areas. The Committee suggests that Roads and Grounds, working through their management structure, develop such a program for consideration by the Director.
      11. The Committee encourages the on-going attempt to develop working relationships with commercial prairie seed vendors. This relationship may take the form of seed trade or "special AG land leases".
      12. The Committee continues to encourage the Lab to seek and participate in ecological related research that is compatible with the Lab Ecological Land Management Program. The Committee also encourages the Lab to continue to seek interested individuals to conduct ecological surveys. For example, the Butterfly Survey Program by Tom Peterson is a significant addition to the annual surveys being done on-site.
      13. The committee supports the ongoing efforts to control the white-tailed deer population on the Fermilab site.

    2. Recommendations for each ELM Tract

      3. 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 CY 1999 Plan. The fourth column indicates what was done in that tract during CY 1999. The fifth column is the Committee recommendations for CY 2000. The recommendations are based on what the Committee believes is the next logical step in moving towards the long range goal, tempered with the Committee’s estimation of what resources may be available during the year.