Bonfire-palooza

Finally, enough people care. Decades overdue. And you're invited.

This post is, in part, an ad for an extraordinary stewards' event at Illinois Beach on Monday, Veterans Day, November 11, 2024. If you're free.

At long last, we are starting to clean out an unnecessary lethal mess that is degrading one of the richest and most important biodiversity preserves in the midwest. 

Invasive pines are dying. But they don't rot or burn. They continue to kill.

Even as you approach the logs, the rich flora of this Nature Preserve starts to fade out - the soil excessively acidified by slowly rotting bark and twigs - grass fuel for healing fires thinned out and less- or not-flammable. 

Away from the log piles, the varied and rich savanna and prairie flora - and their animals - still thrive. But less and less as pines die and the mess spreads.

Huge areas are covered with just logs. It may seem hard to believe, but this problem has been recognized since Illinois Beach was dedicated as the very first Illinois Nature Preserve in 1964. 

The heroic Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves volunteer team has been working here weekly - all year long - since July 2023. They tackle priorities, brush and sweet clover in the richest areas. And they also do the hardest stuff - from herbiciding crown vetch to the finding, GPS-ing, and caring for needy endangered species populations.

The dead pines are the latest. We won't clean them all up on the 11th, but we'll make a big start. So far six certified chain-sawyers have signed up. And the rest of us will pile logs, light them on fire (if weather permits), and also toss in bark and branches. There's work for everyone, but ...

Warning. This is not an easy event. The walk to the work site takes 30 or 40 minutes, much of it across sandy beach. We may need to wade across Dead River (just a few inches deep) if it's running. But probably we won't, given that the weather's been dry; we'll probably just walk across the bar that forms at its mouth. 

This is a wilderness. There are no "facilities." No nothing but incomparable nature. 

Please join us if you wan't to help. We'll meet at 9:00 AM at the Illinois Beach nature center parking lot. We'll be working all day. Join at any time. 

If you arrive late, take the Dune Trail as far south as you can go, and then take trail east to the beach. Walk south along Lake Michigan. You'll get to signs saying "This Areas Is Closed." But on Monday, it's open to you, if you're here to pitch in. Once you're south of Dead River, look for smoke or listen for chain saws. 

Please let us know if you're coming. To sign up and for any questions, go to:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScbvRgsq7VwvmogtSt7NTD6RJw4Jyhq_jAiFfJa8rqfwfLkyw/viewform 

or

Illinoisduneslandrestoration@gmail.com