NATURAL LAND INSTITUTE
320 SOUTH THIRD STREET, ROCKFORD, IL 61104 www.naturalland.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: THE MISSION OF THE NATURAL LAND INSTITUTE IS TO CREATE AN ENDURING LEGACY OF NATURAL LAND IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOR PEOPLE, PLANTS AND ANIMALS.

THE NATURAL LAND INSTITUTE IS A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO PRESERVING NATURAL LAND.

LAND PRESERVATION - PROTECT NATURAL AREAS THROUGH ACQUISITION OR CONSERVATION EASEMENTS. NLI PURCHASED 42.8 ACRES IN DECEMBER TO CONNECT TWO OF OUR EXISTING PRESERVES IN WINNEBAGO CO. THE PROPERTY IS PART OF A LARGER COMPLEX OF PROTECTED LANDS APPROXIMATELY 1,200 ACRES IN SIZE OWNED AND MANAGED BY THE FOREST PRESERVES OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY, THE BYRON FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT, THE ROCKFORD PARK DISTRICT, AND NLI. THE FITZGERALD ROAD PROJECT EXPANDS CONTIGUOUS LAND PROTECTION IN A FRAGMENTED LANDSCAPE, MAINTAINS CONSISTENT FOREST COVER, AND PROTECTS AND IMPROVES THE RIPARIAN CORRIDOR. THE MAIN SPECIES OF FOCUS ARE THE NORTHERN LONG-EARED BAT (MYOTIS SEPTENTIONALIS) AND THE RUSTY-PATCHED BUMBLE BEE (BOMBUS AFFINIS). THE WOODLAND COVER AT FITZGERALD ROAD CONSISTS OF A MATURE DRY MESIC UPLAND FOREST DOMINATED BY OAKS AND HICKORIES, WHICH PROVIDE CRITICAL HABITAT FOR THESE BATS. THE RUSTY-PATCHED BUMBLE BEE HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED AT NLI'S HOWARD D. COLMAN DELLS NATURE PRESERVE NEARBY, AND NECTARS HEAVILY ON FOREST EDGE WILDFLOWERS WHICH THE FITZGERALD ROAD PROPERTY ALSO PROVIDES. RESTORATION ACTIVITIES WILL FOCUS ON THE CLEARING OF WOODY INVASIVE SPECIES PRIMARILY CONSISTING OF BUSH HONEYSUCKLE (LONICERA MAACKII), MULTIFLORA ROSE (ROSA MULTIFLORA), AND COMMON BUCKTHORN (RHAMNUS CATHARTICA). THE AREA WILL BE MONITORED AND MANAGED TO REDUCE AND/OR ELIMINATE HERBACEOUS INVASIVE SPECIES AS WELL AS ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN NATIVE UNDERSTORY VEGETATION. NATIVE VEGETATION MAY BE SUPPLEMENTED THROUGH SEEDING OR PLANTING. A TRAIL SYSTEM WILL BE ESTABLISHED FOR SITE ACCESS AND TO SERVE AS FIRE BREAKS DURING CONTROLLED BURNS. NLI EXPANDED ITS DEVIL'S BACKBONE PRESERVE IN OGLE CO. BY 18.1 ACRES IN DECEMBER. THIS AREA CONTAINS DRY-MESIC UPLAND FOREST WITH SANDSTONE OUTCROPPINGS. THE STEEP SLOPES GIVE WAY TO STONY OUTCROPS AND. THE SOILS HERE CONSIST OF BOONE LOAMY FINE SAND, PALSGROVE SILT LOAM, MARTINSVILLE SILT LOAM, WHALAN LOAM, ELIZABETH LOAM, AND COLOMA SAND. THESE SOILS ARE WELL-DRAINED OR EXCESSIVELY WELL-DRAINED, AND MAY CONTAIN LOOSE ROCK. TOWNSEND GLADE, LOCATED IN JO DAVIESS COUNTY, WAS APPROVED IN SEPTEMBER AS AN ILLINOIS LAND AND WATER RESERVE BY THE ILLINOIS NATURE PRESERVES COMMISSION. IT SUPPORTS SIGNIFICANT NATURAL HERITAGE RESOURCES INCLUDING SIX THREATENED OR ENDANGERED SPECIES SUCH AS THE FEDERALLY-ENDANGERED INDIANA BAT. NLI PURCHASED TOWNSEND GLADE IN 2018. THE 149-ACRE PRESERVE WITH APPLE RIVER RUNNING THROUGH THE NORTHWEST CORNER CONSISTS OF CLIFF COMMUNITIES ALONG THE RIVER, REMNANT PRAIRIES, WOODLANDS, AND FLOODPLAIN GRASSLAND. WITH THIS NEW DESIGNATION, IT NOW BECOMES PART OF THE APPLE RIVER CANYON ILLINOIS NATURAL AREAS INVENTORY SITE.

NYGREN WETLAND PRESERVE - RESTORATION OF 721-ACRE PRESERVE AT THE CONFLUENCE OF THE ROCK AND PECATONICA RIVERS. A FULL MOON, TWO BONFIRES, AND THE PRAIRIE TRAIL LIT BY LUMINARIES PROVIDED GREAT AMBIANCE FOR GUESTS OF ALL AGES WHO ATTENDED THE WINTER THEMED EVENT AT THE WANDER AT THE WETLAND ON FEBRUARY 6.FAMILY NATURE ADVENTURES WAS AN ONLINE SUMMER EVENT IN 2020. ALONG WITH EARNING A JUNIOR NATURALIST BADGE AND CERTIFICATE, THOSE WHO EARNED A BADGE HAD THEIR NAME PUT INTO THREE DRAWINGS FOR A CHANCE TO WIN PRIZES. WE KEPT THE BASIC CONCEPT OF THE ONLINE EVENT THE SAME - PROVIDE NATURE-THEMED ACTIVITIES AS A WAY FOR KIDS TO GET OUTSIDE AND EARN A JUNIOR NATURALIST BADGE. WE INVITED OUR PAST LEARNING STATION HOSTS TO CREATE THEIR OWN VIDEO OF THEIR ACTIVITY. MORE THAN ONE THOUSAND PEOPLE WATCHED A TOTAL OF 14 DIFFERENT VIDEOS THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER. HONONEGAH HIGH SCHOOL HONORS BIOLOGY STUDENTS USED NYGREN WETLAND PRESERVE AS AN OUTDOOR CLASSROOM WHERE THEY STUDIED THE WATER QUALITY OF RACCOON CREEK, THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE PRESERVE, OBSERVED PRAIRIE ECOLOGY AND DID A MACROINVERTEBRATE STUDY.IN THE 20TH YEAR OF THIS RESTORED 721-ACRE WILDLIFE HABITAT, THERE WERE SIGHTINGS OF TWO DIFFERENT GROUPS OF FEDERALLY-ENDANGERED WHOOPING CRANES IN OCTOBER. THIS IS THE EARLIEST REPORTED SIGHTING FOR FALL MIGRATION IN THE 20-YEAR HISTORY OF THE PRESERVE. IN 2009 WE SAW A GROUPING OF FIVE WHOOPING CRANES VISIT THE WETLAND IN DECEMBER. THEN, DURING FALL MIGRATION OF 2014, IN MID-NOVEMBER A FAMILY OF THREE WHOOPING CRANES VISITED FOR A FEW DAYS WITH A JUVENILE THAT WAS NOT RAISED BY THE ADULT PAIR THAT IT MIGRATED WITH. WILDLIFE MONITORING WAS CONDUCTED BY VOLUNTEERS FOR BLUEBIRDS, AMPHIBIANS, BATS, DRAGONFLIES AND DAMSELFLIES AT NYGREN WETLAND PRESERVE. STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS MONITOR BIRDS USING THE EBIRD APP TO ESTABLISH DATA ABOUT BIRDS AND MIGRATION AT THE NYGREN WETLAND. AT THE NYGREN WETLAND PRESERVE, NLI CONTINUES RESTORATION EFFORTS, GROWING AND PLANTING PLUGS FROM OUR GREENHOUSE INTO THE DIFFERENT COMMUNITY TYPES AT THE PRESERVE. WE ARE ESTABLISHING A DIVERSE RANGE OF SPECIES IN OUR FLOODPLAIN THAT ARE ABLE TO COMPETE WITH THE INVASIVE REED CANARY GRASS AND PROVIDE HABITAT FOR OUR NATIVE FAUNA. THE NYGREN WETLAND TURNED 20 IN 2020. WE CELEBRATED ON DECEMBER 8 WITH A VIRTUAL GATHERING. NLI MEMBERS SHARED STORIES OF EARLY RESTORATION WORK AT THE PRESERVE DURING THE FIRST HOUR OF THE EVENT. A PROGRAM CELEBRATING "A GREAT BEGINNING" FOLLOWED. SPECIAL GUEST ANDY BACON, FORMER NLI DIRECTOR OF STEWARDSHIP, SPOKE ABOUT LAND RESTORATION, A 20TH ANNIVERSARY VIDEO PREMIERED, AND THE GEORGE AND BARBARA FELL AWARD WAS PRESENTED TO DON MILLER.

RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT OF PRESERVESBURR OAK VALLEY PRESERVE. A BIG MILESTONE WAS REACHED EARLY IN 2020 AS THE LAST LARGE REMAINING POCKET OF INVASIVE BRUSH WAS CLEARED FROM THE MCCLEARY WOODS ADDITION. A HUGE THANK YOU IS DUE TO THE ARTHUR L. AND ELAINE V. JOHNSON FOUNDATION AND TO OUR MANY VOLUNTEERS WHO WORKED ON THIS BRUSH REMOVAL PROJECT THAT STARTED IN 2013. LATER IN THE SPRING, NLI STAFF CONDUCTED THE FIRST PRESCRIBED BURN OF THE ELEVATOR ROAD PRAIRIE RESTORATION THAT WAS PLANTED IN 2018. THE SUMMER AND FALL HAVE KEPT US BUSY CONTROLLING INVASIVE WEEDS, COLLECTING SEED FROM SOME ABUNDANT POPULATIONS ON SITE, SPREADING SEED INTO SEVERAL RECENTLY CLEARED AREAS, AND WILDLIFE MONITORING. THE ONGOING RESTORATIONS HAVE SHOWN GREAT PROMISE AS WE'VE SEEN THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES RETURN TO THE PRESERVE. SOME OF THE PRAIRIE AND WOODLAND PLANT SPECIES THAT HAVE POPPED BACK UP ON THEIR OWN FROM THE SEEDBANK AND OTHERS IN THE 2018 PLANTING HAVE ESTABLISHED LARGE ENOUGH POPULATIONS THAT WE CAN NOW COLLECT SEED FROM THEM FOR USE IN OTHER LOCAL RESTORATION PROJECTS. WILLIAM & GAYLE KEEFER NATURE RESERVE. DONATED TO NLI BY GAYLE KEEFER IN 2017 AND LOCATED ON THE EDGE OF THE VILLAGE OF ROCKTON, THE KEEFER NATURE RESERVE IS 37 ACRES OF DIVERSE LANDSCAPES AND HABITATS. FROM OLD RIVER ROAD YOU CAN SEE A STEEP BLUFF THAT IS HOME TO NUMEROUS OAK TREES AND IN THE SPRING IS COVERED BY CUT-LEAVED TOOTHWORT (CARDAMINE CONCATENTA). HIDDEN FARTHER BACK INTO THE PROPERTY ARE THREE OLD LIMESTONE QUARRIES. ALL OF THIS IS SURROUNDED BY DENSE WOODLAND THAT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO WALK THROUGH. BUCKTHORN AND HONEYSUCKLE ARE BOTH NATIVE TO EUROPE AND ASIA AND ARE THE TWO MAJOR INVASIVE SPECIES ISSUES ON THIS PROPERTY THAT WE ARE WORKING TO REMOVE. WE STARTED BY USING A FORESTRY MOWER TO CLEAR BRUSH AND SMALL TREES ALONG THE PROPERTY BOUNDARY. AS OUR RESTORATION ACTIVITIES PROGRESS, NEW INTERIOR HIKING TRAILS TO VIEW THE RARE CHINQUAPIN OAK HABITAT, OAK SAVANNA RESTORATION, AND PRAIRIE RESTORATION WILL BE AVAILABLE TO EXPLORE.

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