Heritage LandKeepers

Continuing a Legacy of Love

Imagine being given land, a prairie recreated from the descriptive writings found in an 1840s journal by a little girl named Mary Sackett, and accepting the grave responsibility of continuing a family legacy to preserve and protect that treasured landscape.

Rebecca Christoffel and Andrew Williams

That’s exactly what happened to Andrew H. Williams and his wife, Rebecca Christoffel, on March 1, 2019 when they became the owners of the Mary Sackett Prairie. It was a gift from George Johnson, whose family owned their farm since 1895. George is the one who found Mary’s journal and was inspired in 2003 to begin recreating 26.5 acres of land on his family farm into a prairie of abundant wildflowers where birds, frogs and insects would thrive.

Andrew said in his 2021 Mary Sackett Prairie Summary Report, “We are very grateful to George for his fabulous gift to us! We visited Mary Sackett Prairie many times since then (2019) and sent frequent emails to various interested parties with titles like “MSP notes 21-06-30” that tell about the activities and findings while engaged with caring for this special place.

Andrew’s report includes a list of the numerous people who helped him and Rebecca and what they did, as well as detailed descriptions about several efforts throughout the year such as prescribed burns, mowing, and herbicides; increasing the seed rain; decreasing the weed rain; herbaceous weed management; woody weed management; soil rehabilitation; vertebrates; and invertebrates.

The vertebrates section talks about the close records they keep of the mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians that they encounter on the prairie. They were able to keep track of the creatures because they put out a birdbath in April and a wildlife camera that recorded the visitors to it. He said, “the most brilliant highlight of 2021 was surely catching on camera a Henslow’s sparrow at our birdbath on August 2.” He pointed out in his report that this bird “is a prairie conservation icon and we are thrilled to have it recorded here!

“One or both of us visited the prairie 154 times in 2021, which amounts to more than 15,000 miles driven,” said Andrew at the end of his summary. “I also drove some distance engaged in seed collecting. We used expensive herbicides. We fueled and maintained mowing equipment. We bought tools. We bought expensive prairie seeds to sow. We rented a storage unit just for Mary Sackett Prairie related materials – mowers, seeds, tools – because we have no storage facility at the prairie.

“This is not an inexpensive project! But it is immensely gratifying and we are eager to keep doing this. We cannot recommend to you highly enough being outdoors, engaged in meaningful work, soaking up the beauty of nature in all its forms. In these troubled times filled with violence, disease, chaos and deceit, standing out in the sun, in the breeze, among flowers, birds, insects — beauty in such abundance — is a balm. And the work we do in part undoes the destruction of nature we see almost everywhere else we look.”

Location

Mary Sackett Prairie, located in Laona Township in northwestern Winnebago County, has a conservation easement on it that is held by Natural Land Institute. An overhead shot of Mary Sackett Prairie is available on Google Earth by searching 42.45772N 089.31058W.

Keep Updated About Andrew and Rebecca’s Work

If you wish to receive Andrew’s MSP notes with musings about his encounters and efforts, please send your request to him at studiesnature@gmail.com. Indicate if you want to receive most of them, or just the most interesting ones.  

Read the MSP short 2021 summary here.

Read the full MSP Management Report 2021here.

2022 Update

A Part of History:

George Johnsen accepts the 2017 George and Barbara Fell Award, Photo: Jill Kennay.

Mary Sackett Prairie

In the spring of 2008, George and Marilyn Johnson protected 26 acres of restored native prairie. George Johnson’s family purchased their farm in 1895, treasured it, and held onto it during difficult economic times. Johnson’s keen interest in history led to restoration of native prairie on the farm. He discovered a journal written in the 1840s by a girl named Mary Sackett, describing the profusion of wildflowers, birds, frogs and insects in Laona Township where his property is located. In 2003, Johnson started recreating the landscape described by Sackett. On 26 acres next to two old bur oak trees growing at the edge of the field, he planted native grasses and wildflowers such as Culver’s root, lead plant, mountain mint, prairie blazing star and showy goldenrod. “These oaks were here in the 1800s, and I believe this is where 16-year-old Mary Sackett sat in the shade writing in her journal in 1842,” Johnson said.

And as for the future of his land? “A conservation easement was precisely what we needed,” Johnson said. “We will continue to own the land, we can sell it or pass it on to our children, but it will never be built upon or subdivided and will always be maintained as a natural area. That’s the great thing about this era. We have an organization like the Natural Land Institute to entrust our land to. We couldn’t have done it any other way,” he said.

Over a hundred years ago, a young couple, John and Christina Handel, homesteaded a beautiful and extraordinary property just north of the town of Savanna, Illinois. They chose a site to raise their family that had everything from steep sloping forests and dramatic cliffs to grassland for their fields, as well as wetland areas.

Vicki Stretton inherited a portion of the property from her father that her grandparents had homesteaded long ago. When Kerry Leigh, NLI Executive Director, visited with Vicki and her husband Robert in the fall of 2013, she showed Kerry the part of the house that was the original log cabin built by Vicki’s grandparents, with the still-sloping floor. She told Kerry stories about her and her brother, Bill Handel, playing with marbles on that floor when they were children and how those marbles would roll down the floor, and jump the boards. She also told Kerry stories of the land, and how as children they loved to roam the woods and search out wildflowers.

When Kerry visited during the fall to work on finalizing the conservation easement, she told them she wanted to get some fall color photos of their forest before she left, so Robert fetched her a walking stick made by Vicki’s dad. It was a wet, drizzly autumn day and as she walked along the edge of the woods, Kerry said, “it saved me many times on that steeply sloping land. I was grateful for the stick, and as the foggy wet air infused a magical quality into the woods I felt profoundly honored, as Vicki and Robert are, to be treading in the footsteps of their ancestors on this well-loved and cared for property.”

The largest part of the land is upland oak-hickory forest that nurtures rare and unique plants. Vicki’s love of this wild land was the driving force for her to protect it. She and Robert want to preserve this part of the old homestead not only for their family but for the wildlife and the rare plants found there. Vicki’s brother, Bill Handel, is a botanist for the Illinois Natural History Survey and has been actively helping them manage the property with controlled burns and wildlife management. Vicki and Robert chose NLI to protect their property through a conservation easement, as they had seen NLI protect other properties close by. They feel that NLI’s goals and purposes are similar to theirs. In November of 2013, the easement with the Strettons was finalized to protect, in perpetuity, 35 acres of this family’s heritage.

Vicki’s brother, Bill Handel, is a botanist for the Illinois Natural History Survey and has been actively helping them manage the property with controlled burns, invasive species control and planting nectar and native pollinator plant species. One of their major challenges is combatting the spread of black locust trees which contain several toxic components in its leaves, stems, bark and seeds. Although native to the Appalachian mountain slopes, in the Midwest, it invades thickets and old fields crowding out the native vegetation of prairies, oak savannas and upland forests, forming single species stands. It does this by root suckering and stump sprouting forming a common connecting root system, making it an especially challenging job. Keep up the good work, Vicki, Robert, and Bill!

Louis and Mark Cagnoni of Durand have shielded 131 acres of wetland along the Sugar River in Winnebago County from development. A conservation agreement with the Natural Land Institute allows them to continue owning their property, while protecting the floodplain forests, sedge meadows and wildlife forever that they treasure at Ottertail Marsh. Louis Cagnoni purchased the farm on the Sugar River in 1974. His son, Mark, moved there two years later, and from the very beginning, Mark had the idea the land should be protected. “There was a marsh behind the house where I grew up, and when I was about eight years old, I started to study plants, dragonflies and other wildlife,” Mark said. Mark was aware that marshes and wildlife along the Sugar and Pecatonica rivers were rapidly disappearing. To enhance the wetlands on the farm, he raised plants such as cord grass, tussock sedge and sweet flag to plant there. He worked on his own for years, then got some help by enrolling the tillable acres of the farm in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program. He also worked with the Sugar-Pecatonica Rivers Ecoyststem Partnership and NLI to secure a small grant to help restore native vegetation and install a water control structure in 2002. Before long, Mark saw Blandings turtles, little green herons and his much-loved river otters returning to the areas he restored with native vegetation. “I chose the name Ottertail Marsh because my interest in otters began as a child at Ottertail Lake in Canada,” he said. Mark and his father chose to use the conservation agreement to protect their property, because they will continue to own the land, and they are getting some equity from the property. They can sell it or leave it to someone in their wills, but it will never be cleared or developed. In exchange, they agree to protect it and provide stewardship of the wetlands.

Ottertail Marsh is part of a larger area of bottomland forest, marsh and wetlands along the Sugar River. It is designated as a Conservation Opportunity Area in the State Wildlife Action Plan, and as a Priority Area for Acquisition in the Boone-Winnebago Greenways Plan. The Sugar River Natural Area provides habitat for 260 species of birds and for 12 state-endangered and five state threatened species of plants and animals. Jerry Paulson, NLI executive director (2000-2013), said the Cagnonis were able to exercise their conservation rights with the help of grants from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation and the Grand Victoria Foundation. NLI members also donated nearly $20,000 to complete the acquisition of the conservation easement and pay for cost of the legal agreements, appraisal and survey. NLI staff has the great privilege of helping landowners like Mark and Louis Cagnoni find ways to protect their properties. Our members and supporters, as well as the landowners, are fundamental to the process. All are among the most dedicated and conservation-minded people in our region.

The major thrusts towards long-term stewardship were initiated by Lloyd and Ruth Durward, who bought the farm from Lloyd’s mother, Elizabeth Edlund (married to Andrew Durward), in the mid-1930s. Lloyd worked with the depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps to establish waterways in the tilled fields and stabilize the bank along the creek which runs the length of the property. He incorporated, what were at the time, innovative practices such as crop rotation and contour farming into his agricultural operation. He planted windbreaks to encircle the farmstead and reseeded grass to rejuvenate soil on eroding hillsides. He encouraged and enlisted other farmers in the endeavor to spread conservation practices.

In the next generation, Lloyd and Ruth’s daughter Marjorie and her husband Harold Hardin continued these efforts as well as expanded them by establishing terraces in steeper fields and maintaining dikes along the stream bank, Marjorie maintained these projects and practices for three and a half decades subsequent to her husband’s death. She also seeded and maintained plots of prairie grass, as well as maintained a spring-filled pond that she had excavated several decades earlier. During her terminal illness, in 2001 she worked with the Natural Land Institute to establish a conservation easement on the property and ensured that the property would continue to be available for farming with some conservation practices in place, along with a stipulation that approximately fifty acres devoted to prairie grass and filter strips would continue to be maintained.

Marjorie passed the farm on to her children Sarah Hardin, Ruth Doocy, and Steve Hardin, and their families (including Christina and Laura Doocy, and Paul Hardin-Specht) who have attempted to maintain her work by coordinating two major stream bank stabilization efforts, as well as initiating some new projects. With cost share and rental from the CRP program, they have overseen the establishment of 8.9 acres of stream bank buffer strip. In addition, with cost share from the federal EQUIP, they are coordinating the reforestation of about thirty-five acres of environmentally sensitive land with hardwood trees.

The 272 Durward-Hardin Farm includes prairie species such as Pale Purple Coneflower, Wild Quinine, Grey-Headed Coneflower, Big Bluestem, Side-Oats Gramma and wetland species such as Spotted Joe-Pye weed and Red-Osier Dogwood.

A fifty-acre tract of woodland and grassland has been preserved at the headwaters of Silver Creek in Ogle County, Illinois, in a cooperative project between the Natural Land Institute and the Northwest Illinois Audubon Society.

The property was donated to the Northwest Illinois Audubon Society (NWIAS) by Mrs. Joanne Styles, a retired school teacher from Leaf River, Illinois. The Audubon Society then donated a conservation easement to the Natural Land Institute to insure that it will remain protected forever. At Mrs. Styles request, this newly-protected natural area has been named the “Silver Creek Biodiversity Preserve: Tarbox Unit” in honor of her first husband, Hascy Tarbox, a professional wildlife artist.

The preserve is located in the rolling hills of the Rock River valley about two miles south of Leaf River. Most of the property is covered by a mature hardwood forest of oaks, hickories, elm, and walnut. Forty-six species of birds have been observed so far in these woods including the red-headed woodpecker, red-eyed vireo, wood duck, and American kestrel.

Silver Creek, a shallow, spring fed stream that flows into the Rock River cuts through the preserve. Water striders and tadpoles were seen flitting about the shallows in the late spring, and the throaty “burp” call of bull frogs was heard. Dolomite bedrock forms the creek bed and a little bluff lined with ferns and mosses lies where the creek has slowly carved the land away.

Two old agricultural fields near the center of the preserve are enrolled in the USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and have been planted in warm season prairie grasses. After the CRP contract expired the NWIAS began restoring these fields to an open oak-hickory savanna.

Joanne and Hascy Tarbox purchased the property as a young married couple in the early 1940s and maintained it as a wildlife refuge ever since. Each year the last day of school was a very special day for the students in Mrs. Tarbox’s elementary school class. It meant that each student had a chance to visit the property and look for frogs, birds, and wildflowers.

The plan is for the new Silver Creek Biodiversity Preserve to be open to the public and used for field trips and environmental education sessions, continuing Mrs. Styles’ long-standing devotion to teaching young people about the natural world.

The NWIAS awarded Mrs. Styles their 2012 Land Stewardship Award at their annual banquet. The award is given annually to an individual with an outstanding commitment to the fields of land stewardship and the preservation of biodiversity. Shortly after receiving the award, one of Mrs. Styles’ former students approached her and told her how much she enjoyed visiting the woods as a child and how glad she was to see those woods protected.

The Corliss and Russell Kerr family of Morrison worked with the Natural Land Institute protect its 379-acre farm in Whiteside County from development with a conservation agreement that was completed in December 2008. It protects the home farm purchased by Corliss Kerr’s great-grandfather in 1871.

“There were actually two goals behind this easement — protecting the agricultural acreage that has been in our family for more than a hundred years and preserving the land that my parents acquired 40 years ago and restored with natural areas,” said Jane Kerr, the third generation to treasure the farm. “My dad had grown up wandering through woodlots and wild areas, and purchasing the land was one of his dreams.”

Corliss Kerr said she and her family want the scenic vistas to remain for future generations to enjoy. “While our local area isn’t currently under intense development pressures like some urban-edge communities, that may not always be the case. We’ve always felt it’s important to maintain the natural areas and agricultural uses of this region. The conservation easement means that this property, which has been carefully stewarded for so many generations, will never be turned into stone quarries or golf courses, junkyards or housing developments, huge meat factories or ethanol mills.”

Mrs. Kerr said the family is happy that their neighbors and the community will benefit from their efforts. “We hope many of our neighbors will realize that they, too, can easily protect their farms and take advantage of the tax benefits of donating an agricultural conservation easement,” she stated.

Corliss Kerr’s father, Harvey C. Cobb, was a founding member of the Whiteside County Soil and Water Conservation District when they organized in July of 1944. He used terraces and contour farming methods, and later Russell Kerr added minimum tillage and no-tillage practices.

Forty-six acres on the Kerr farm are enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program and are planted to black walnut trees and cool season grasses. Ninety-one acres are forested with black oak, red oak, black walnut and black cherry. Native plants, including little bluestem, thimbleweed, bush clover, asters and goldenrods, grow in a small prairie remnant on the edge of a woodland area.

Rick Lawrence, former project director for the Natural Land Institute, helped the Kerrs create the agreement that protects the conservation values of their land. He said, “They will continue to own the property, they can sell it or leave it to heirs, but it will never be developed. They agree to continue to use conservation farming methods and maintain the forests and prairie that they love.”

The Kerr Family History by Duane:

The area around northern Whiteside County, Illinois was a different-looking place in the late 1850’s.  In about 1857, Harvey Churchill Cobb and a brother arrived, having moved from their birthplace in Coventry, VT.  Harvey’s grandson, also named Harvey Churchill Cobb, remembered his grandfather telling of an observation the two brothers made looking north from what is now the Whiteside/Carroll County line along Hwy. 78 near where the old Millview Feed Store is.  From their vantage point there, not a tree was visible to the north, just prairie.  Now there are farm yards with shade trees and some small timber plots that lie scattered among corn and soybean fields.  The Cobb family settled in northern Ustick Township later in the 1800’s.

Two forty acre parcels of land that became the Cobb home farm were originally granted by the US Government to veterans of the War of 1812.  One parcel was given to Mary Ann Leroy, widow of Russell Starr, deceased Private of First Regiment, Ohio Militia.  The second was given to Theodorus Miller, Private in Parker’s Company, Ohio Militia.

On March 1, 1854, both parcels were assigned to a Charles Dement in documents signed by President Franklin Pierce.  Abstract of title shows that Harvey Churchill Cobb purchased the property on July 22, 1871.  According to records of Corliss J. Kerr, Harvey Cobb had purchased a farm from a Mr. Eads in Union Grove Township on Oct. 18, 1859.

Samuel Cobb, son of Harvey Churchill and Charlotte Willmarth Cobb, purchased the Ustick Township farm from his parents on January 18, 1878.

Samuel Barney and Della Green Cobb had a son also named Harvey Churchill Cobb who later purchased the farm.  H. C. and his wife Sylvia Baker Cobb also acquired the adjacent farm to the east on January 25, 1937.  That farm, in Clyde Township, was originally received by assignment from the US Government by a Thomas Wattson on October 2, 1854.  Ever since Harvey and Sylvia bought that farm, it has been referred to by the family as the “other place.”

The home farm and the other place were purchased by James Russell and Corliss Jane Kerr from Sylvia Cobb on March 1, 1977.  Corliss is the daughter of Harvey and Sylvia Cobb and taught school in the area for many years.  J. Russell Kerr grew up on farms in the Joslin and Erie areas.  The Kerrs had farmed the Cobb farms after Harvey retired from farming.  The Kerrs also purchased a farm from Lowell Kelm in 1965.  That farm lies about two miles east of the Cobb farms.

Harvey Cobb was always interested in practicing conservation methods of farming.  Laying out contour lines for planting, establishing two terraces to control runoff, and installing tiling for drainage of low lying fields were accomplished while he farmed.  A fiftieth anniversary newsletter of the Whiteside County Soil and Water Conservation District in July, 1994 talks about meetings that were held in 1944 that led to the establishment of the district.  Charter members present at the first organizational meeting included E. J. Allison, H. C. Cobb, A. L. Goodenough, Russell G. Matthew, and Glen Wade.

Sylvia Cobb, Harvey’s wife, was active in the rural community as part of the Spring Valley Presbyterian Church Willing Workers group, and as a charter member of the Whiteside County Home Bureau.

When Russell and Corliss Kerr took over farming following Harvey’s retirement, conservation practices were continued and expanded.  With improvements in conservation tillage technology, Kerr utilized minimum tillage or no-till practices to enhance erosion control.  At the Kelm farm (Russell & Corliss called it the Lazy K), sod waterways and contour lines were established.  Kerr participated in programs such as Diverted Acres and more recently the Conservation Reserve Program on portions of the farms more prone to erosion when cropped.  A portion of the CRP land at the Kelm farm has been planted to black walnut trees for future harvest.  A timber management plan has been established for the natural timber on that farm and selective logging for timber improvement has occurred.

The northeast hill portion of the Kelm farm includes a unique area where native prairie grass, little bluestem, was evident.  In the late 1960’s, a soil conservation service employee told Russell Kerr that so far as he knew, that may have been the largest tract of native prairie remaining in Whiteside County.  Brush and trees have taken over much of that, but some clearing of the less desirable trees and brush over the past few years has helped with regeneration of some little bluestem.  Planning for additional treatments in the future may help reestablish a larger area of native prairie.

When the Kerrs retired from farming, Russell sought a person to rent the farmland who would continue utilizing the conservation practices already in place.  Bob Belha, now deceased, and later his son Steve Belha, and Steve’s son Tony, have farmed the properties since then.

Following Russell Kerr’s death, his wife Corliss began the process of establishing a permanent conservation easement to maintain the open space aspect and traditional farming of the properties.  The conservation easement on the properties was finalized with the Natural Land Institute in December, 2008.

Russell and Corliss Kerr had two children, Jane Ann and Duane.  Jane owns a historic home in Janesville, WI, worked in the trade show industry since college, and is currently employed with GES Trade Show Services in Chicago. She maintains a strong interest in the farms and in conservation practices.  Duane lives in Green River, Wyoming and also has much interest in the Kerr farms and conservation practices.  He received a degree in Wildlife Management from the University of Wyoming in 1973, and was employed by the State of Wyoming Game and Fish Department as a Game Warden until his retirement in 2014. When possible, he works on the timbered portions of the Kerr farms thinning undesirable brush and to encourage regrowth of native prairie plants.

On July 25, 2017, at age 95, Corliss Kerr passed away peacefully in the house on the home place, where she was born.  A memorial service for Russell and Corliss was held in Morrison on August 8, 2017.

Married to Sherry and their Prairie

It was the wildflowers that saved this piece of land. The wildflowers, and being too wet to farm. A 6.89 acre patch of remnant wet prairie and sedge meadow, slowly being overtaken by reed canary grass, lay at the back of an 80 acre piece purchased to raise sheep on. Sherry Piros, who owned the property, was out walking around one day and stumbled upon something that struck her as odd: a pussy willow-like plant, growing far from any yard or landscaping. She brought her friend and colleague, Jay Friberg, out to the property with this sample, which he identified as prairie willow. They found the site full of native wildflowers: fringed gentian, marsh marigold, Michigan lily, spotted phlox, bottle gentian. Sherry remembers being told that this piece of land was special, “rare and valuable”.  It had never been farmed, and a mostly intact native ecosystem still blossomed there. In 1995, Sherry and her husband worked with The Natural Land Institute to place a conservation easement on it, forever preserving and protecting the land. It was also designated an Illinois Nature Preserve in 1998.

Bob married Sherry in 1994. “People say I married Sherry for the prairie,” he jokes. Bob was originally lured away from aquatic ecology in college by Doug Wade, future founder of the Prairie Preservation Society of Ogle County. Doug got him invested in the plight of the prairie. Bob was a charter member of the PPSOC when it was founded in 1974, and has actively participated in prairie restoration and management for decades.

Together, Bob and Sherry steward their preserve, battling invasive reed canary grass, multiflora rose, and honeysuckle, removing trees like buckthorn and osage orange, and burning the land in the spring. The war will never be quite won, but more ground is gained each year. And periodically, more native species are found there. The original survey in 1995 found 102 species.  7 years later, an additional 35 species. Bob currently keeps a list of 15 more that he’s found.

This land allows Bob and Sherry to pursue a rewarding passion for the native prairie. Bob says that they “love to preserve it, and we work on it, proud to say that. Wet prairie is the most endangered of the prairies”.  For Sherry, “walking around this clumpy, mucky grass has some instructive value to it”.  She remembers realizing “these pretty flowers are worth something? Beyond just being a pretty flower?” Bob’s mission to survey all the natives in the prairie culminates in his photography, “I try to get a really nice picture of them right off the bat,” and, “When I’m out working or surveying, I’ve got the camera”. A few of his pictures are featured here for the viewer: fringed gentian, Culver’s root, spotted phlox, bottle gentian, prairie phlox, Michigan lily, marsh marigold. Sherry in a field of goldenrod.  Bob triumphantly holding a bundle of reed canary grass seed heads. These are the things the Piros value most about their property, and their conservation easement will protect them forever.

Timber Trails Farm: The Gontko Family

Bill and Judith Gontko acquired a 52-acre piece of land in 1976. It was overworked and tired: there were erosion problems, poor surface soil due to farm animals, and invasive weeds everywhere. Over the years, the family has put in a ton of work to give the land new life. They started by removing trash from an eroding hillside and regrading and reseeding it. The erosion and poor soil near the barn was supplemented with soil excavated from a water collection basin. The basin and a pond, scrupulously maintained by the Gontkos, allow water to percolate naturally into the soil, instead of adding to the erosion issues along the Kishwaukee River. That erosion is a big problem, so Bill’s most recent big project has been building three bend weirs along the river. These structures jut out into the river at specific angles to redirect the water flow. The project was implemented with the help of DeKalb Co. Soil and Water Conservation District, and will help stop the river from eating into its banks, protecting the land and water quality.

Another ongoing task on Timber Trails Farm is maintaining a safe place to enjoy the outdoors. Dangerous dead tree branches are removed, and there are contingency plans in case of wildfire, including trails that can be used as fire breaks, and the pond that can be used as a water source. Bill carefully manages removal and prevention of invasive plants that crop up. Prescribed burns help control the noxious plants as well. The trail system is maintained for walking and horseback riding, and runs along the river for scenic views. In winter, the water collection basin freezes over into a skating rink. The pond at the bottom of the hill supports a fish population and is a good resting place for migrating waterfowl.

When the Gontkos placed their land under a conservation easement in 2008, NLI provided them with baseline documentation of their lands plants and animals, as well as their neighbor’s easements. Together, they form part of a wide swath of protected land called the Clear Water Legacy, which in turn is part of 4,500 protected acres along the Kishwaukee. The Gontkos believe the land is important to care about and protect. “The Natural Land Institute defines what land stewardship is all about,” said Bill Gontko.

The Gontkos’ love of their land has slowly created a beautiful home that enriches their life. They love it more now than the first day they saw it, and it has blossomed because of the love and care they have put into it.

Wild Things

Mary and Keith Blackmore

For Mary and Keith Blackmore, placing a conservation easement on their 40 acre woodland seemed natural. Keith, who passed away in 2015, had built their home as a sort of teaching house, using reclaimed materials, super insulation, photo-voltaic solar cells, a seasonal outdoor shower, a solar hot water pre-heater, and even a composting toilet. Mary said, “Along these lines, a conservation easement seems like a no-brainer”. The designation means a big tax cut, but the most important thing the easement provided was peace of mind, ensuring that the woods would never be developed or logged. As Mary put it, “When you’re no longer here, it won’t be destroyed. It’ll be habitat for wildlife and a quiet place for people”.

The habitat her land provides is what Mary appreciates most. There are no trails through the woods, which are ominously thronged with poison ivy. But this deterrent for humans provides cover and food for animals. And as Mary said, “It’s really for the wildlife, not really for us”.  She keeps species lists for the animals found on the land. The bird list has more than 120 species. Mary is excited about the avian oddities that find her woodland: an evening grosbeak and a winnowing male Wilson’s snipe were observed in recent years. A very out-of-place European Goldfinch, possibly an escaped pet, even found her woods a haven. She also sees Northern Shrikes, and a ton of warblers and thrushes. “No pileated woodpecker yet, but I’m hoping someday…”. The mammal list includes the usual suspects such as raccoons, possums, skunks and squirrels, but also long-tailed weasel. “I’m sort of into rodents. I really like rodents” says Mary, who was particularly excited about a glossy short-tailed shrew. Someday she hopes to add a bobcat to the list. She’s making an effort to learn insects, and reported an American snout butterfly seen twice now in successive years. Their caterpillars may live on Mary’s hackberry trees, growing into a highly distinctive, fabulously camouflaged adult. The opportunity to see creatures like this on her own land is very special to her.

Mary is very involved in her community. She is a committee chair of the local Audubon society, often using her home as a meeting place. She also has some deer hunting on her property by family and friends. A neighbor who hunts there told her the woods “played a huge role in his connection to nature, and to conserving habitat”. It is these connections that Mary really values. In her role as an Audubon committee chair, Mary Blackmore helps bring the passion for conservation to her community. As a conservation easement owner, she helps provide a home and haven for the community’s wild things.

Banes Forest:

Land of 10,000 Trees

In December of 2008, Doug and Janice Banes protected 151 acres of forest, prairie and agricultural land in Carroll County with a conservation easement, generously donated to the Natural Land Institute. Burr oak, white oak, black cherry, walnut and shagbark hickory trees are among the species found in their beautiful woodlands. Since purchasing the land in 1996, they have restored 30 acres with 135 species of native grasses and forbs and planted more than 10,000 trees. The Banes continue to work and plant their easement, making it a beautiful, engaging and rewarding place to live.

Tailor-made Protection for the Land

In the spring of 2008, John Peterson protected 102 acres of his working farm with a conservation easement through the Natural Land Institute. John Peterson’s conservation agreement protects 102 acres adjacent to the Mary Sackett Prairie (George and Marilyn Johnson property). Previously, he had 20 acres enrolled in conservation programs through the Winnebago County Soil and Water Conservation District, including a buffer strip along a tributary of Otter Creek. Big bluestem, Indian grass and prairie dock grow along the stream, and cord grass and black-eyed Susan are still found along the edges of fields. Agricultural production will continue on Peterson’s property for now, and he plans to restore more wildlife habitat in the future. “My father had a great fondness for the land and over the years became very passionate about erosion control and land conservation. I was able to create an agreement that is tailor-made to perfectly fit me, my property and the conservation ethic of my father,” Peterson said. Jerry Paulson, executive director of the Natural Land Institute at that time, said that Mr. Peterson will receive significant tax benefits in exchange for agreeing to maintain the land for its conservation values and for the wildlife he loves.

A Noble Trust:

War Bluff Valley Preserve – Wildlife Sanctuary

“…there is perhaps no greater delight in life than the pursuit of knowledge about nature.”

Richard Graber said that in his essay, On the Naturalist Nature of Man, in 1969. He and his wife Jean would be happy to know that the nearly 500 acres of land that they donated to the Illinois Audubon Society in 1990 is helping fulfill that pursuit.

The Grabers were working with the Illinois Natural History Survey in the 1960s when they fell in love with Pope County. In 1965, they purchased 80 acres of worn out farmland there, so barren that Jean remarked that lichens wouldn’t grow. The site had an old cabin from the 1800s that they camped in whenever they were in the area for work. In 1983, they retired there permanently, and for the next decade or so they lived on the land, conducting research on birds and insects. The land had begun recovering after the Grabers acquired it. They allowed the far m fields to go fallow and the woodland to regenerate. Over time, it has been allowed to recover naturally, the succession of flora progressing to a mature upland oak-hickory forest, with patches of grassland and ponds. The wildlife has come back too. Many threatened and endangered species have been found here, including Virginia snakeroot, golden mouse, timber rattlesnake, and bobcat. 11 native orchids and 19 native ferns have also been found. Jean Graber had a passion for ferns, keeping numerous specimens in her ‘fern room’. In 1990 the Grabers donated the property to the Illinois Audubon, with a conservation easement held by the Natural Land Institute. In 1996 they brought the land up to nearly 500 acres with the addition of a neighbor’s farm. Dick Graber passed away in 1998, but Jean continues living nearby and visiting the Sanctuary she has loved for over 40 years.

Today, the War Bluff Wildlife Sanctuary is stewarded by the Shawnee Chapter of the Illinois Audubon Society. They, and their volunteers, maintain the extensive trail system, plant trees and remove invasive plants, and put on a number of events to showcase the preserve and get their community involved in its rich natural history. Dick Graber, in his 1969 essay On the Naturalist Nature of Man, said “…man has come to have a noble trust, the conservation of life and earth, through understanding.” Through their protection of War Bluff Sanctuary, and the Audubon Society’s continuing care, Dick and Jean Graber have fulfilled this trust, and left a lasting legacy of natural land.