Prairie Restoration Planned for NAL Main Ring
A proposal presented by the Illinois chapter of The Nature Conservancy, to re-establish a native prairie on the 650 acres of land inside the circle comprising the NAL Main Accelerator, has been approved by the Laboratory. The prairie landscape, first viewed by pioneers traveling westward before 1800 and characterized by tall grasses sprinkled with a variety of colorful flowering plants, has almost disappeared from the American scene. Cultivation, grazing, and construction have nearly obliterated prairie vegetation in the Midwest. The essentially-isolated nature of the inside of the NAL Main Ring makes it an ideal setting for a prairie restoration that may well become a world-famous botanical and ecological study ground.
According to Donald R. Getz, NAL Assistant Director, the project must get underway soon in order to be ready for the 1974 planting and growing season. The Laboratory has asked Dr. Robert Betz, professor in the Biology Department of Northeastern Illinois University and a world-famous prairie authority, to head the NAL Prairie Advisory Committee. Dr. Betz and his committee will come to the Laboratory to describe what a prairie is and explain the steps and procedures necessary to develop a prairie. Employees of the Laboratory, members of their families, visiting experimenters and their families, and any other interested people will have an opportunity to hear these leading authorities on prairie culture describe what can be achieved with the project at NAL. Volunteers will be called for at this meeting to assist in this program, in several ways:
A nursery will be started immediately to plant and nurture seeds provided by the Morton Arboretum of some of the 200 varieties of prairie flowers and grasses. The seeds will be planted in ordinary flats in a greenhouse on the NAL site, then transplanted in two stages to a one-acre "nursery" site. Meanwhile, as early as possible this Spring, the Laboratory will have a controlled "burn" over the surface of the land as a major step in eliminating weeds and undesirable vegetation now growing on the site. About one-fourth of the land within the Main Ring circle will be burned early this year, the remainder when it is convenient and again at 2-3 year intervals. The burning is an important facet of prairie culture; fires, both natural and started, were vital factors in determining which plant species survived. The burning at NAL will be accomplished easily and safely because the entire acreage is surrounded by the waters of the cooling ponds of the accelerator.
Another aspect of the prairie plan at NAL is the gathering, from within a 75-mile radius of NAL, of more seeds of authentic prairie species which will in turn be planted in the nursery for further development and replanting in the prairie area. It is expected that ten years' time will be necessary to achieve stabilization of growth in this project, one of the largest of its kind anywhere. A similar project at the University of Wisconsin, started in the 1930's, totals 100 acres. The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, began a 10-acre prairie in 1963.
The largest portion of the labor required for the prairie project at NAL is to be the work of volunteers. The work of volunteers will proceed according to the plans and schedules devised by the Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee will provide leadership to an NAL Prairie Committee, appointed by the NAL Director from a list of interested volunteers after the information meeting. This committee will supervise the volunteers.
"It is important," said Mr. Getz, "'that everyone realize this is a working volunteer group. It will be interesting, rewarding work, but work nevertheless, involving hand cultivation and weeding and caring for the seedlings. No one should sign up who can't follow through with the project.
"But we need lots of volunteers, from inside and outside the Laboratory. It is a unique program; to the best of our knowledge, nothing like this has been done anywhere in the world, and we would welcome a lot of participation."
Everyone interested in the NAL prairie project is welcome at the forthcoming meeting, Mr. Getz urges.