Category: Wetlands

Save the Fen at Joliet Junior College: An Open Letter

This is an open letter I wrote recently to the leadership of Joliet Junior College in my hometown of Joliet, Illinois. The issue at hand is a future road extension, proposed by a mall developer, that would bisect the protected natural areas of the JJC Campus and compromise a rare type of Illinois wetland. The proposed roadway has galvanized support for the JJC Fen and associated natural areas on campus and in the Joliet community, as the College’s Board of Trustees debates how to proceed.

13 June 2017

Dear President Judy Mitchell and Board Chairman Bob Wunderlich –

I write to you today as a citizen of Joliet, a longtime environmental educator, and the son and grandson of JJC graduates. My overall message to you and your colleagues on the JJC Board of Trustees is simple: I strongly support the view of the JJC Natural Areas Committee and numerous faculty, students, alumni, and community members that the JJC Fen and associated open/natural areas must be protected from the proposed road extension by Cullinan Properties.

Since its settlement began in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Illinois has lost over 90% of its natural wetlands to agricultural and urban development. In the meantime, it has built what must be millions of miles of roads, many of which are deteriorated and no longer in use. In short: we have enough roads. We cannot afford to lose yet more high quality wetlands.

Map of proposed development and roads. The County Road extension (vertical blue line at left) is the road that would traverse the JJC protected natural areas.
Map of proposed development and roads. The County Road extension (vertical blue line at left) is the road that would traverse the JJC protected natural areas.

As the above map illustrates, the proposed County Road Extension is neither the shortest nor the most convenient traffic route from the adjacent I-55 and I-80 interstates to Cullinan’s proposed “mixed-use lifestyle center” — yet even if it were, it would not be the best route. As the great writer, ecologist, and conservationist Aldo Leopold famously wrote in his 1949 book A Sand County Almanac, “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise” (pp. 224-5).

The importance of JJC’s high quality open spaces, biodiversity, water quality, landscape aesthetics, and overall campus sustainability far outweigh the supposed advantages of this road extension, which serves no other purpose than to direct traffic to a shopping center that could otherwise take several other perfectly viable alternative routes that are faster and more direct.

JJC Fen 2
Detailed map of the JJC campus buildings, open spaces, water bodies, and wetlands

As the College mulls over the tempting overtures of Cullinan Properties and decides whether to protect this ecologically and educationally valuable ecosystem, or to allow its fragmentation and ultimate degradation, I urge you and your colleagues to take a long view of the matter. A perspective informed by environmental sustainability inspires us to ask careful questions about the road, the character of the campus, and the institutional mission — questions that relate not just to the issues of the day, but those decades into the future.

We now live in a world of rapid urbanization, climate change, and accelerating species extinction. A century from now, I highly doubt that the leaders, faculty, students, and alumni of JJC will look favorably upon a decision in 2017 to disturb and degrade its coveted and protected natural areas with a road built exclusively to service a single shopping center. In fact, given the economic vagaries that occur over a mere 20-30 years, let alone a century, it’s questionable said development will even be operating that far into the future. (The example of the Jefferson Square Mall, built in 1975 with great fanfare and now vaporized from the landscape a mere 40 years later, comes to mind, though there are many others one could cite.)

However, I do think that the future stewards of America’s first and oldest community college (founded 1901) would be rightly proud in the year 2117 that its leaders in the present day chose to maintain the ecological and aesthetic integrity of the campus ecosystem by conserving its tranquil and species-rich open space, protecting the water quality of its beautiful lake and stream, and ensuring the opportunities of generations of students to study field-based biology and ecology in the extraordinary “living classroom” provided by one of Illinois’ most rare and endangered wetlands, a fen.

JJC biology prof Andy Neill leads students on an exploration of the campus natural areas, spring 2017 (photo: Eric Ginnard, Joliet Herald-News)
JJC biology prof Andy Neill leads students on an exploration of the campus natural areas, spring 2017 (photo: Eric Ginnard, Joliet Herald-News)

As a graduate of the local public schools (JT West class of 1985), a current resident of Joliet, and now a professor of sustainability studies at Roosevelt University in Chicago, I have developed a close relationship over the past 12 years with many students and faculty at JJC. I can attest from my vantage point in the regional higher ed community that JJC’s commitment to environmental sustainability – embodied in its native woodland, prairie, and wetland ecosystems; its 1998 Natural Areas Resolution; its LEED-Platinum greenhouse facility and widely-praised arboretum; its progressive academic programming; and its campus sustainability leadership – is the envy of many colleges and universities in the Chicagoland region.

Consequently, harming the fundamental character of the campus’ rare and biodiverse ecosystems would not just diminish the quality of the College’s outdoor learning laboratories; it would also directly contradict JJC’s professed commitment to sustainability and potentially erode its hard-won reputation among its institutional peers.

As a local citizen who cares deeply about and greatly appreciates JJC’s remarkable history and unique educational mission, I ask that you heed the recommendations of the Natural Areas Committee and protect said Natural Areas, including the fen, from any present or future road development.

Yours sincerely,

Mike Bryson
Resident of Joliet, IL
Professor & Director of Sustainability Studies, Roosevelt University

CIMBY Students Visit RU Campus and Tour Stearns Quarry Park

Last month I had the great fortune of playing host at Roosevelt’s Chicago Campus to a terrific group of Chicago Public High School kids from the far South Side — the Calumet region, specifically — for a sustainability-themed tour of the university and a little bit of urban nature field-tripping.

CIMBY students tour the Wabash residence hall at RU; this is the student lounge on the 31st floor!
CIMBY students tour the Wabash residence hall at RU; this is the student lounge on the 31st floor!

These students are leaders within the noted Calumet Is My Back Yard environmental education program, in which dozens of high school teachers and hundreds of students participate in several ecological/community restoration projects on Chicago’s Far South Side — and in the process, learn about urban ecology, community development, and the history of this industrialized yet still biodiverse landscape. The 12-year-old program is a collaboration between the Field Museum of Natural History and Chicago Public Schools.

Our day started by meeting up at RU’s Wabash Building, then heading up to an 11th floor classroom that features spectacular views of the city’s lakefront. I conducted a simulated college class session on the topic, “Sustainability and Urban Nature: An Introduction to Roosevelt University and Exploration of the Chicago River” (pdf). There was no trouble getting discussion going with this group! We had such a good give-and-take during my talk that I could cover only half of my slides.

RU's fitness center, looking out on Wabash Ave in downtown Chicago
RU’s fitness center, looking out on Wabash Ave in downtown Chicago

After this session, we enjoyed a student-led tour of the Wabash Building residence hall, fitness center, and other highlights — with a short stop at the Tutoring / Student Support center in the historic Auditorium Building. Then, a tasty lunch at the 2nd floor Dining Center, where I got to visit with several of the students as we munched our hot dish.

To cap off our day, we headed outside with work gloves and trash bags to hop the L and ride the Orange Line to Stearns Quarry, aka Palmisano Park — a relatively new urban parkland on the near SW Side in the Bridgeport neighborhood. A former limestone quarry until the 1970s, and then a landfill until the 2000s, Stearns Quarry Park is now a model of sustainable parkland development, and a great place to talk about land use, the relation between land and water, urban biodiversity, and the history of Chicago.

Looking out at the wetland at Stearns Quarry; CIMBY coordinator Samantha Mattone talks about the restored wetland and fishing pond here on the boardwalk.
Looking out at the wetland at Stearns Quarry; CIMBY coordinator Samantha Mattone talks about the restored wetland and fishing pond here on the boardwalk.

We hiked the park’s extensive trails, chatted and laughed, and collected litter and recycling along the way. I don’t know how many readers have had a chance to do that with boisterous and fun-loving high schoolers, but I can tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed it! The highlight of our visit was when we took in the view at the meadow on the hilltop, which offers great views of the downtown skyline as well as the Fisk Generating Station — a recently shuttered coal-fired power plant which for many decades spewed pollution here on the SW Side until environmental activists succeeded in pressuring Midwest Generation to shut it down.

Two students talk about their environmental justice work here on Chicago's South Side.
Two students talk about their environmental justice work here on Chicago’s South Side.

Here, in the shadow of the Fisk plant, two CIMBY students told of the community service work they’ve been doing with key grassroots environmental organizations — the Southeast Environmental Task Force, which is based in Calumet; and the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, here on the SW Side. These inner-city teens were passionate, articulate, and highly informed — and the impact of what they had to say in just a few minutes didn’t just complement my previous lecture about sustainability and social justice . . . it totally blew it away.

You can check out more photos of our day together here in this online album.

Our group atop the hill at Stearns Quarry Park, with the Fisk Power Plant in the background.
Our group atop the hill at Stearns Quarry Park, with the Fisk Power Plant in the background.

Spring Sparrows in Joliet

After my sandwich break today while telecommuting from the Joliet Public Library’s Black Road Branch location, I took a postprandial stroll through the marsh at the Rock Run Forest Preserve, which is just to the west of the library.

Song Sparrow (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
Song Sparrow (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

Heard one of my favorite sounds of spring: the three-part call of the song sparrow, one of the most eloquent of North America’s songbirds. He might have an understated appearance, this little brown songster — but what a voice! Here’s some info on this aptly-named species, Melospiza melodia, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, where you can hear the song yourself and learn more about its biology.

Better yet, get outside where some woods meets a lake, a river, or a clearing, and you’ll probably spot a song sparrow perched on a shrub or a small tree. Or, like me, hear it first.

Burning Rock Run: Fire Management in a Will County Marshland

From my perch this morning at the Joliet Public Library’s West Branch, I’m looking out at the Rock Run Forest Preserve of Will County, which is adjacent to the library. Looks like folks from the FPDWC are doing a prescribed burn today in the preserve’s woodland that borders the big marsh.

A good view as I work on my biodiversity online discussion forum for my Sustainable Future class!

Prescribed burn (Will County Forest Preserve)
Prescribed burn (Will County Forest Preserve)

College Scholarship Offered by the Friends of Volo Bog (deadline Mar 31)

I received this notice via email from the Friends of Volo Bog environmental stewardship organization. A nice scholarship opportunity for continuing SUST majors looking to supplement their finances for 2013-14.

The Friends of Volo Bog is offering an Entering College scholarship and a Continuing College scholarship for $1,000 each to outstanding students interested in pursuing an environmental career.

To be eligible for the Entering College scholarship the applicant must reside in Lake, McHenry, Kane, Cook, DuPage, Kendall, or Will County, attend a high school in one of these counties, have a minimum B average for the first three years, and plan to attend an accredited college or university.  The applicant should be planning to enter a career directly related to preserving the natural environment.

To be eligible for the Continuing College scholarship the applicant must be currently enrolled in an accredited college or university pursing a degree directly related to preserving the natural environment, have a permanent residence in Lake, McHenry, Kane, Cook, DuPage, Kendall, or Will County, have graduated from a high school from one of these counties with a minimum B average, and currently hold a minimum B average in their college studies.

Applications are due by March 31st each year for the following school year.
Application packets are available here.

The Friends of Volo Bog is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, dedicated to promoting citizen awareness of the local natural heritage of Volo Bog State Natural Area, portions of which are dedicated state nature preserves, and to preserving the same through special events, educational and training programs, acquisitions of properties for such purposes and taking whatever steps deemed necessary to insure the continued care and preservation of Volo Bog State Natural Area as a natural site.

City Creatures Retreat at the Indiana Dunes (Pictures and Random Thoughts)

A marsh within the Calumet River watershed in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
A marsh within the Calumet River watershed in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

I’ve never been invited to a writer’s retreat before (not to mention a writers and artists retreat), and despite long anticipation and careful planning for this one, I almost didn’t get to go to this one when my spouse took ill and the kids needed tending. Thank goodness for CHN retreat organizer and all-around problem-solver Gavin Van Horn’s wisdom and quick decision-making, as he called me up and said, “Bring the girls along.”

I’m glad I did, as we had a terrific time — and I’m grateful to Gavin’s wife Marcie, who generously and graciously volunteered to watch my children during the times when I was occupied with fellow participants in wonderful discussions about our forthcoming City Creatures project.

For me the retreat had a number of highlights. Some of them were formal, in the sense that they were on the planned agenda — like the splendid hike through the wetlands of the Great Calumet Marsh on Friday led by Ron and Joan Engel, who escorted us along some of their favorite biodiversity-rich trails in the Dunes back-country; the lovely reception hosted by the Engels at their beautiful home in Beverly Shores (which surely has the best home study/library I’ve ever seen); the delightful dinner at Sage restaurant in Chesterton; and the “soundwalk” excursion we took in Gary on the grounds of the Paul Douglas Environmental Learning Center at the western end of the National Lakeshore.

Joan and Ron Engel, with Steve Packard

But the less-scripted elements of the retreat held many delights, as well. I became pals with a conservationist and writer I much admire, Stephen Packard, who rode in my car from field site to field site, and delighted my children with his funny stories, endless questions, and brilliant bird call imitations. At one point on our way to the soundwalk field trip, I deliberately got us lost (no, really!) so I could listen to the end of a story that involved “mucking about” a salt marsh on Cape Cod; the ensuing delay was worth it. I met some old friends but also made a bunch of new ones among a group of immensely talented and utterly fascinating people. And I learned a lot about what our collective project is aiming for, and had time and encouragement to think about how my small contribution fits into the bigger picture.

Lea Schweitz holds an opossum mandible

My two girls, Lily (age 10) and Esmé (age 5), had fun cavorting with Gavin’s 5-year-old son Hawkins, and they got a kick out of our field hikes, too. During our marsh walk, we had  several great kid discoveries: Steve Sullivan found the mandible of an opossum; Steve Packard found some eggshell fragments, still soft and pliable, from a turtle; and we all admired a large beaver lodge and the abundant nearby evidence of busy-ness on the part of this intrepid wetland mammal and fellow water engineer.

On our Saturday morning hike, I was initially concerned that my chatterbox children would fill the “soundscape” with their songs, stories, and sisterly bickering and thus necessitate my hanging back from the group. Turns out I greatly underestimated them. Lily hiked ahead with the grown-ups, while Esmé and I lollygagged with the renowned naturalist and writer Joel Greenberg, who happily pointed out flowers and identified bird calls for us. Esmé got a nosebleed for no apparent reason, but rather than crying or complaining, she just asked me for tissues until it stopped, and kept trudging along behind Joel and looking at everything he noted.

At a rest stop on our soundwalk, listening to the marsh and woods

The best part of that wonderful hike was when we ascended a hill about two-thirds of the way along the circuitous trail we were following, and stopped for a long listen. Here in the Dunes there’s lot of sand, of course, and this summit we were on was like a big sandbox. As we naturally formed a circle to listen, observe, and talk quietly about what we were experiencing, the girls just played quietly in the sand.

We watched them, too, and I couldn’t help but think about how our project — about connecting with nature and, more specifically, the non-human animals within the urban and suburban environment of the Chicago region — is also, ultimately, about nurturing an ethic of stewardship and love of nature in our children.

Esmé holds a piece of turtle eggshell; Gavin shows another to Hawkins

It had been way too long since I had been to the Dunes. This was a splendid excuse to return to that special landscape, and to introduce my kids to some of its treasures. It was also an inspiring way to begin our work on City Creatures.

I’m looking forward to future gatherings with these new friends and colleagues. I wonder what critters, or the leavings thereof, we’ll come across on our ensuing explorations?

Environmental Studies Scholarship Info

Here is a great scholarship opportunity I just got via email. The deadline is coming up fast, but the application may not be all that involved. Check it out! — Mike

The Friends of Volo Bog offer
Two $1,000 Scholarships to Environmental Studies Students
Application Deadline:  March 31st, 2012
Find application at www.FriendsofVoloBog.org

The Friends of Volo Bog are offering an Entering College scholarship and a Continuing College scholarship, for $1,000 each, to outstanding students interested in pursuing an environmental career.

To be eligible for the Entering College scholarship the applicant must reside in Lake, McHenry, Kane, Cook, DuPage, Kendall, or Will County, attend a high school in one of these counties, have a minimum B average for the first three years, and plan to attend an accredited college or university.  The applicant should be planning to enter a career directly related to preserving the environment.

To be eligible for the Continuing College scholarship the applicant must be currently enrolled in an accredited college or university, pursing a degree directly related to preserving the environment, have a permanent residence in Lake, McHenry, Kane, Cook, DuPage, Kendall, or Will County, have graduated from a high school from one of these counties with a minimum B average, and currently hold a minimum B average in their college studies.

Applications are due by March 31st each year for the following school year to begin in fall. Application packets are available at www.FriendsofVoloBog.org and also for pick up at Volo Bog State Natural Area, 28478 W. Brandenburg Road, Ingleside, IL.

Volo Bog State Natural Area is an Illinois Department of Natural Resources site located on Brandenburg Road in Ingleside, Illinois, west of Highway 12 between State Highway 120 and 134. Friends of Volo Bog is a not-for-profit 501c3 membership organization, dedicated to the preservation of the area’s natural heritage, maintenance of site facilities, and advancement of educational programming at Volo Bog State Natural Area.

Walking through Wetlands: Conservation and Restoration in the Upper Des Plaines River Watershed

My SUST 220 Water class at RU took its third field excursion on Saturday, Oct. 29th, to the Des Plaines River Wetland Demonstration Project (DPRWDP) located in northern Lake County near the town of Wadsworth, IL. Our group took a walking tour through part of the experimental wetlands of the site, much of which is land owned by the Lake County Forest Preserve and managed by staff from Wetlands Research, Inc. The goals of our visit were to learn about wetland ecology and restoration practices, understand the mechanics and implications of wetland mitigation, and assess the water quality of the two streams that run through the wetland complex — the Des Plaines River and Mill Creek.

Des Plaines River Wetland Demonstration Project site (M. B. Radeck)

Our tour was led by Jill Kostel, senior environmental engineer with the Wetlands Initiative, and Kathy Paap, an ecologist and former site manager here at the DPRWDP. Weather-wise, this day was a glorious late October specimen; temps were mild and the wind was low, which allowed us to conduct our water sampling in maximum comfort and enjoy the exercise afforded by an autumnal hike.

We started our three-hour tour with a brief orientation to the site by Jill and Kathy near the double-wide trailer that serves as their on-site office, then got back into a few cars for a short ride to a downstream site along the Des Plaines in one of the wetland restoration parcels that is managed within the DPRWDP.

Riffle dam at DPRWDP (M. B. Radeck)

This mitigation bank site is called Neal Marsh and covers 54 acres. Here a “riffle dam” was constructed a few years to oxygenate the water and provide enhanced hydrology for the wetlands in this area.

Next we returned to the main site’s parking area, then took a mile hike down a pathway that wound through several experimental wetlands on the northern end of the restoration site. We made a few stops along the way to discuss the impact of wildlife on the wetlands (e.g., beaver), the process by which water flow is controlled through the system, the kinds of experiments one can perform in such an “outdoor laboratory,” the threat of invasive species to wetlands (e.g., common carp), the ecological benefits of wetlands to wildlife and humans, and the process of wetland mitigation.

At the mid-point of our journey, we stopped at two nearby sites to take some water samples. The first was on Mill Creek, which enters the wetland preserve from the west and carries wastewater effluent from a sewage treatment facility as well as run-off from about a 20+ square mile area.

Mill Creek (M. B. Radeck)

Then, we walked a bit further to a bridge that arched over the confluence of Mill Creek with the Des Plaines River, which flows in from the north and receives surface run-off from a mosaic of suburban development that is buffered to some extent by the riparian zone of the Lake County Forest Preserve. There we could observe the confluence as well as take water samples directly from the Des Plaines. We worked at streamside in small groups to analyze the samples using the Hach Surface Waters chemistry lab as well as the portable Urban Waters LaMotte kit. You can view a summary of our results here: Water Quality Results for DPRWDP 29 Oct 2011 (pdf).

Images of our trip were captured by Mary Beth Radeck, a SUST major at RU and member of our 220 Water class. See this slideshow for a whole lot more.