Category Archives: oaks

Prescribed Burn Season

Posted on April 29, 2023 by prairiebotanist

Cold rain is beginning to fall, but it still smells like smoke outside this morning, April 29. Smoke columns have risen all across southern Wisconsin over the preceding days, making up for alternating red flag and wet conditions that stymied … Continue reading →

Posted in biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation own-goals, Forests, invasive species, native plants, Oak opening, oaks, Prairie, restoration, Savanna, Stewardship | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

What Counts as Restoration? This Does.

Posted on October 31, 2020 by prairiebotanist

A few months ago I wrote a post critical of the types of hasty, ill-concieved, and poorly executed efforts that are sold to the public as ecological restoration. The work done at Vestal Grove in Cook County, Illinois has been … Continue reading →

Posted in biodiversity, Conservation, native plants, Oak opening, oaks, restoration, Savanna, Stewardship | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Franklin Savanna, Another Case Study in Ecosystem Collapse

Posted on March 21, 2020 by prairiebotanist

It was an old oak pasture that taught me about the great abundance of nature. We climbed those trees, or rather, when we crawled under the fence into Mr. Erickson’s pasture, walked right up onto their great, open-grown limbs. My … Continue reading →

Posted in biodiversity, Conservation, Forests, invasive species, native plants, Oak opening, oaks, Prairie, restoration, Savanna, Stewardship | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments