Drought, Flood & Fire: the future is already here

Two weeks ago, the weather experts were talking about how 2011 could turn out to be the driest July on record for the Chicago area. Well, driving to work today, I heard the news that July 2011 is now officially the wettest on record!

Would Mother Nature please make up her mind?

It's not like these have been "normal" rains either. They have been torrential rains, often accompanied by strong winds, wild lightning storms, fallen trees, electricity outages and flooding. Four or five inches of water falling in an hour. Nine inches in a 24 hour period. And not just one storm like that, but one storm after another, after another.

And, just like the "heat dome" I discussed earlier, this type of weather has been predicted as one of the by-products of global warming: more frequent, extreme weather events. Violent thunderstorms, massive, long-lived tornadoes, more Category 5 hurricanes.

Other predictions are coming to pass too. As reported by the BBC today, a 1,000 square mile area of Alaskan Arctic tundra burned in the summer of 2007. This was as much tundra as had burned cumulatively since 1950. So, for 57 years, an average of 18 acres of tundra burned each year. Then, in one year, 1,000 acres?

Remember, tundra rarely burns, because it is covered with ice and snow much of the year, and then kind of soggy during the very brief growing season. 2007 was a particularly dry year on the Arctic tundra, so, when a lightning strike ignited the fire in July, it was not extinguished until October when heavy snow snuffed it out.

Now, burning Arctic tundra isn't like a grass fire, or even a forest fire. The tundra is a type of habitat characterized by a layer of permafrost that can be as deep as 3 feet. Permafrost is an area of the soil that is always frozen. Only the top-most layer of the ground ever thaws - maybe 4-5 inches at the surface - just enough for small plants to grow in the very brief growing season.

Over millenia, this permafrost layer of perpetually frozen soil has served as a place where atmospheric carbon (CO2) was stored (sequestered). That is no longer the case, however. When permafrost actually dries out due to a combination of longer periods of time without snow cover and drier weather conditions, this previously stored carbon is released into the atmosphere again. Toss a fire on top of that, and the release of carbon is accelerated that much more.

In fact, while the tundra region was once considered a place where there was net storage of carbon each year, today it is a net releaser of carbon each year. Actually, release of carbon & methane, both so-called "greenhouse" gases because of the way they collect in the atmosphere and help to magnify the warming effects of the sun.

If you are like me at all, you are now thinking "Gee, thanks for that depressing bit of information that I can't do anything about!"

But that's when we need to pick ourselves up and change our thinking. We may not be able to directly stop the burning tundra, but each of us can surely start making decisions that will at least contribute in some small way to slowing the global forces that are accelerating around us.

My favorite quote ever is from Gandhi. It hangs on my wall. "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Do what you can. Lead by example. Do it now.

Thoughts on heat, humidity, droughts and our future

I read today that a "heat dome" has settled in over the central US, covering about 1 million square miles. Some sort of upper atmosphere high pressure system that is moving v e r y slowly...

A short video I found on line has a nice graphic showing how the large, powerful heat "dome" deflects all other weather systems that are moving across the country. This is what leaves us with these hot, humid - but without rain - conditions and no relief for days on end.

It sounds like the system will break by Monday, but in the meantime, those with air conditioning are surely running it, and those without are probably spending a lot of time at the public library (or other cool public place).

I was surprised to read that humans actually tolerate heat quite well, provided we are able to sweat and have plenty of fluids. But, another important factor is that the sweat has to be able to evaporate - it is the evaporation that has a cooling effect on our bodies.

Unfortunately, when the heat is accompanied by high humidity, the air has little capacity for additional water, so that sweat doesn't readily evaporate. That means one is left hot and sweaty, but feeling no cooler. ugh.

Humidity comes in several forms from a scientific standpoint, and each one is calculated a bit differently: absolute humidity, relative humidity and specific humidity are all used. You can read the Wikipedia article for a thorough explanation of each. For we lay-people, the one that has the most relevance is relative humidity. RH is a measure of the amount of water vapor in the air relative to the maximum amount of water vapor that the air could hold without actually starting to rain.

RH is the factor used to calculate the "heat index", or the temperature it feels like to us when the humidity is high. For instance, when the weatherperson says "the temperature will be 93 today, but it will feel like 105," he or she is talking about the heat index that is adjusted for the relative humidity.

While reading about this weather phenomenon, I came across a 2004 article with information from the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The scientists had run some models to look at how weather systems are expected to shift as the climate changes due to global warming. Among their findings was that stationary high pressure domes that result in long-lasting heat waves will become more frequent over Europe and North America.

Some places, like Kansas and Nebraska, are predicting serious groundwater shortages this year as farmers are forced to irrigate crops that would otherwise wither and die from the lack of rain. An area can manage a drought year like this once in a while, but not several years in a row. China and Russia have suffered through record droughts in recent years, giving us some idea of what may be in store.

Seems about time we started figuring out a different system that will work with the available resources like water as well as the weather conditions that are coming. Not just in the US, but around the globe.

Too bad humidity doesn't water crops...

Of storms, rain & roads

Finally, a stretch of lovely, mild weather - well, with the exception of the brutal storm on Monday.

The storm knocked our power out for just an hour, but the Internet was down for two days. And then came Tuesday, and fields of purple coneflowers and monarda suddenly blooming! I guess they needed the rain.

The rainbarrels needed the water too -- ours were nearly empty, but the 3/4 inch storm managed to fill them back up with run-off from the roof!

In case you hadn't noticed, this isn't just summer - it is also road construction season. Construction and reconstruction, and then adding insult to injury, so many traffic lights out, further slowing any movement through Crystal Lake and points East!

Yes, I know, that sounds like a good reason to just stay home!

If you are like me, and drive on Route 14 between Woodstock & Harvard every week, you too have been witness to a perplexing series of road projects:

- first, crews were out replacing many of the centerline reflectors. They would remove one, fill the hole with asphalt, cut a new hole, and install the new reflector about 10 inches from the old one.

- then, they decided to do some pretty extensive patching. This was actually quite a fascinating process to watch -- and while waiting, or moving very slowly past the work crews for several weeks, I had lots of time to watch. First, the pieces of road to be removed were marked with spray paint, then someone came along with a piece of equipment designed to cut the road -- a big circular saw set to cut a line about 2 inches deep. Next, someone came along to blow the dust away from the cuts, presumably so the next workers could see the cuts. Then came a jackhammer machine to break up the road, followed by the big backhoe to dig the broken road out and put it in a dump truck. Finally, the holes were filled with asphalt, and compressed with a steamroller of some sort. They must have done over a hundred of these patches during the month of June.

- So, imagine my surprise when, July 5th, I noticed that ALL of the centerline reflectors (old and new) had been removed. And next thing I knew, they started grinding off the top two inches of the road all the way from Hughes/Hartland Road just west of Woodstock, to Dean Street. Now, in July, I have had the priviledge of watching a giant road-eating machine grind off the very same patches that were installed just a few weeks ago. I'm not kidding.

I have to believe that there was a more cost-effective way to manage this whole thing. Like maybe just do the current work, and skip the first two projects? I'm all for people having jobs, but do they all have to be employed to do (and undo) things on the same stretch of road?

Maybe I should spend some more time at home in the garden instead of out cursing the construction traffic. I certainly have plenty of rain water to use now!

Fleming Road Update

Members of the Fleming Road Alliance sent a series of updates to the County Board over the last couple of weeks to cover topics ranging from road design standards to Groundwater recharge issues.

Their bottom line is this: Keep Fleming Road in the same footprint.

And they have a list of ideas for why and how that can happen:

1. Maintain 10-foot lanes and 1-2 foot shoulders. Minimize grading. Repair the [road] base where necessary...

2. Leave the alignment (sight distance) and drainage patterns the way nature accommodated them when the road was first a local farm road.

3. Reduce the posted speed limit to the lowest permitted by law.

4. Post the weight limit at 6 tons per axel (as before), to maintain safety and extend the life of the road.

5. Preserve one of the last remnant Oak Hickory Woodlands left in this county.

6. Respect the property rights of owners to the middle of the road.

7. Embrace the Natural Heritage Corridor [the easements that TLC holds with the Village of Bull Valley along the roadway] and take this opportunity to be a leader in Context Sensitive Solutions [a road design framework promoted by the State].

8. Direct MCDOT [McHenry County Department of Transportation] staff to acquire the necessary variances, waivers and exceptions to avoid application of standards that do not fit Fleming Road's unique glacial topography.

9. Maintain control over the construction process. [This issue came up when county staff commented that they don't control what the contractors do when they are actually building the road.]

I'm sorry, but these all seem very reasonable to me. And, I think that much too much is spent on road work anyway, so why spend more than is necessary? It should cost less than $1 million to repair the road base in a few areas and then repave the 2 1/2 mile stretch of Fleming, as compared to $10s of millions to rebuild the road. So what if they have to repave it again in 5 years, that will still cost less than rebuilding the whole thing. Heck, they could repave it every year for 20 years, and it would still cost less than rebuilding it...

So, kudos to you, residents of Fleming Road, for standing up to say "enough is enough." I hope people in the right places are listening.

A Little Oak Poetry

A friend sent me this poem recently. I keep it on the desk where it is close at hand to lend some solace if I start to feel tense or frustrated. I highly recommend it.

By Mary Oliver

Black Oaks

Okay, not one can write a symphony, or a dictionary,
or even a letter to an old friend, full of remembrance
and comfort.

Not one can manage a single sound, though the blue jays
carp and whistle all day in the branches, without
the push of the wind.

But to tell the truth after a while I'm pale with longing
for their thick bodies ruckled with lichen

and you can't keep me from the woods, from the tonnage
of their shoulders, and their shining green hair.

Today is a day like any other: twenty-four hours, a
little sunshine, a little rain.

Listen, says ambition, nervously shifting her weight from
one boot to another -- why don't you get going?
For there I am in the mossy shadows, under the trees.

And to tell the truth I don't want to let go of the wrists
of idleness, I don't want to sell my life for money,
I don't even want to come in out of the rain.

Wild Parsnip: It can hurt you!

If you have it, you know it!

If you aren't sure, read carefully, because you want to be very careful around this plant!

Wild parsnip is phototoxic, meaning that the combination of the plant's oil and sunlight will cause severe burns. A friend gave us a picture of a burn he received from sunlit-contact with this nasty invasive. I won't post it here, but trust me, you don't want it!

I was at a conference a couple of years ago, and asked several experienced land managers about parsnip - before giving me their management advice, each one would role up his or her shirt sleeve and point out scars earned during parsnip management work to be sure I knew how dangerous the plant was.

Despite the plant's toxicity, it can be controlled. Use the plant's life-history to your favor. It is a biennial, meaning that during its first year of growth it focuses on putting energy into its root system, and in the second year (or sometimes the third), it sends up a stem and blooms to set seed and create the next generation of plants.

With this in mind, it is NOT effecive to herbicide the plant in year two, because the herbicide is designed to be delivered to the root when the plant feeds the root, and in year two, the plant is focused on producing seed, not feeding the root! That means the herbicide can't do its job. However, in the first year, herbicide works great because the plant is focused on putting food into the root, so if you are able to identify first year plants, spray away (using glyphosate, aka Roundup).

Here is a summary of the best advice I obtained about non-chemical control of the plant:
1. Wear long sleeves, long pants & gloves to be sure the plant does not touch your skin. After you finish any contact with the plant, thoroughly wash your clothes - including the gloves - take a shower just to be sure, and wash any tools that came in contact with the plant so you don't pick up the oil later. Another suggestion is to wear a miner's helmet with a light and cut the parsnip in the dark - the person who suggested this was quite serious!

2. If there are just a few plants, pull them out by the roots before they set seed. Destroy the plants by burning them. DO NOT leave the plants lying where you pull them.

3. If you have an infestation that is too large to hand pull, then try this approach: after the plants flower, but before they set seed, cut the seed heads off and gather the cut tops together to burn them. NOTE: the plants are likely to flower again and will set seed, BUT, the flowers will be smaller, there will be fewer seeds, and many of the seeds are likely to be sterile. In four or five years, this approach should result in a dramatically reduced number of plants. At that point, the remaining ones can be pulled.

4. If you decide to mow the parsnip (because of size or resources), use a pull-behind tractor type mower, not a push mower, and definitely not a rotary cutter or weed whip! Those are much more likely to scatter the oil around where you or someone nearby can be harmed! Mowing should be timed carefully to occur when the plant has finished blooming but has not set seed. Late July is usually a good time for this -- you want to get the plants cut before they turn brown, because once they turn brown, they have set seed. The area mowed should then be checked in a few weeks for resprouts, and if necessary mowed again.

5. One good piece of news is that sites with a well-established prairie planting are not likely to be invaded by parsnip, and, if an area is enhanced by adding native seed, the parsnip is likely to fade on its own over time.

6. Prescribed fire does not really help control the plant, BUT, it will make it easier to identify the first year plants in the spring since they will be some of the earliest plants to come up. I'd like to thank my friend Vern LaGesse from Springfield for talking me through the ins and outs of parsnip management, and for reminding me to check the INPC vegetation management website because they have pulled a lot of good resources together to help individuals with managing weeds on their property.

Some parsnip facts FYI:

Life history: Wild parsnip typically lives for two years. The first year, as a spindly rosette of leaves, it keeps fairly low to the ground while the plant's carrot-like taproot develops. It may live two or more years this way until conditions are right for flowering. The second year, a hollow, grooved flower stalk rises 2-5 feet high, first holding clusters of yellow flowers and later dozens of flat, oval seeds.

Leaves: Pinnately compound, with a main stem and 5 to 15 leaflets.
Flowers: Yellow, in flat-topped umbrella-like clusters at the top of the plant.
Season: Wild parsnip rosettes are among the first plants to become green in spring, and its flowers turn a prominent yellow in midsummer. After flowering and going to seed, plants die and turn brown in fall, but first year rosettes remain green until frost.
Habitat: Roadsides, abandoned fields, unmowed pastures, edges of woods, prairie restorations.

If you want to see it, good places to spot the plant in first and second year growth are along Route 14 between Woodstock and Harvard, and along 176 by Lippold Park in Crystal Lake. It looks a little like yellow Queen Anne's Lace (or a tall, tough Golden Alexander). Look, but don't touch!

What are You waiting for?

We each need to do something - now.

That was the message from Dr. Kathleen Dean Moore at last night's Moral Ground discussion at MCC. If you would like to leave a world to future generations as rich in possibilities as the world we were born into, then you need to take action.

Identify your passions - the things that bring you joy - and your gifts, and figure out where those intersect with the environment's needs.

For example, Dr. Moore is a philosopher and a writer - those are her gifts and passions. So she decided to write a book, and to use her skills as a philosopher to develop strong arguments that she could use to inspire others to act.

One of those arguments really hit home for me -- if you love the Earth (and all the known and unknown treasures it contains), and you believe that the Earth and those treasures are in trouble, you have an ethical obligation to act. It would be wrong to do nothing.

I do love the Earth and the abundance of life and mystery that it has. I love that there are many things that people will never know -- like what early humans thought when they looked at the night sky, what was the creature like that first breathed air into a lung, or did the first squirrel to find - and eat - an acorn think "Yum" (in whatever way a squirrel might articulate that thought!).

I do believe that the planet - the the way we live today - is going to be a thing of the past, sooner than we want to believe. When we consider that if everyone living in China today were to live in the same way that the average American lives -- two cars per family, television, computer, buying more stuff than they need at stores that don't even pay their workers a living wage, the world would not have the resources to support it!

Think about that. In America, we live in a way that will never be enjoyed by most of the rest of the world. And by continuing to live this way, we are in fact reducing the quality of life for others.We are contributing to the spread of more deadly diseases by insects that thrive in the hot environment that is expanding across much of the planet. We are contributing to rising sea levels and increased violent storms that are forcing people from their homes. We are contributing to a melting polar ice cap that is displacing Inuit peoples from the land (or ice) that has been their home for thousands of years.

As Dr. Moore commented: "If aliens came to our world and started treating it the way we treat it - dumping poisons into our water, ripping mountain tops off for the coal and tossing the rubble into the rivers, putting poisons into the products we give to our children... We would be outraged, and we would fight back at these invaders' treatment of our world." But for some reason, when we are doing it to ourselves, we just take it as the price of doing business, or perhaps it seems too big a problem to tackle, so we go back to the couch and click on the TV.

Well, whether you want your grandkids to inherit a world as full of possiblities as the world you enjoy, or think it's unjust to force other people from their homes because of the way we live, or just because you love the Earth and everything in it, act. Act now. Today.

Start small, start large, but make a change - and another and another. Do what you can, today and every day. If you care about the future, the time to act is now.

Moral Ground, June 20th - 7pm @ MCC

How do people of Conscience respond to the sometimes overwhelming environmental challenges that the planet faces today? Whether one is a member of a faith community, environmental organization, or someone who cares about the future, you should enjoy the discussion on Monday, June 20th at MCC (7pm).

The program will explore the issues of our ethical responsibility to the planet through the writings found in the book "Moral Ground," which will be available for sale through the MCC bookstore.

Dr. Kathleen Dean Moore, co-editor of the book, will read selections from several of the book's essays and then facilitate discussion about the issues raised.

How people respond to times of profound environmental change will make a difference in the future of our communities. Will individuals take responsibility for "doing what they can" to reduce human impacts on the planet? To minimize our "carbon footprints," and live sustainably as well as ethically?

Can Americans - the biggest consumers on the planet - change our patterns of consumption in ways that will ensure abundance for others on the planet in addition to the abundance our nation has enjoyed? Consider that the US has about 4% of the world's population, yet we consume about 25% of the energy, and generate at least 25% of the waste.

In other words, if everyone on the planet lived like Americans do today, essentially, we would need six planets to support us!

And as we face issues of a warming planet, with waters rising in low-lying, heavily populated areas like Bangladesh, we will face a challenge of relocating people physically and culturally, for in some cases entire homelands will be underwater.

So, what do we do? How do we respond? As people or Conscience - as people who do care - how will we be part of the solutions?

So, come and join the conversation. Monday, June 20th, 7pm, McHenry County College. Hope to see you there.

Intern Season is Upon Us!

I have to admit that I really enjoy the summer interns that we have at TLC. This is just the second year that we have had multiple interns working for us for the summer - we plan to make it an annual thing!

In 2009, interns Travis (at right), Rob, Clare & Chelsea put in trails at Hennen Conservation Area, cleared invasive brush from around some of the old oaks on the property, organized records and files (since we moved that summer), installed native plantings around some of the Memorial Oaks, and otherwise prepared the site for the public grand opening on August 31st.

Our intern crew for 2011, David, Margaret & Melissa, will be doing a lot of the maintenance that needs to be done to keep the Hennen site attractive for the public, in addition to promoting good conservation practices by using the site to demonstrate things like rain gardens, use of native plants, proper care of oaks, etc. We also hope to give the interns the opportunity to help with mussel surveys in local streams, and to work alongside restoration contractors to "learn the ropes" of serious natural area restoration.

The interns work at least 10 hours a week each, receiving a small stipend to cover their out of pocket costs. Through the work, they gain practical experience that they can take with them to either help with their continued studies, to help get a job in the environmental field, or to get a better idea of what type of work they want to pursue as a career.

From our perspective, in addition to getting some work done that might not otherwise happen, the interns provide a new perspective, fresh ideas, as well as enthusiasm that is very energizing.

So, depending on when you come by Hennen Conservation Area next, you may encounter a flurry of activity - perhaps a group of young people pulling thistle out of the native planting, or clearing brush from around an oak. Be sure to say hello, and thank them for their efforts!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hennen Conservation Area is open 8am-sunset 365 days a year, and is located at 4622 Dean Street, Woodstock.

Color on wing(s)

A wide variety of brightly colored birds are visiting Hennen Conservation Area these days, and it appears that at least some of them have decided to call the park home for the time being!

On a daily basis at the birdfeeder, we are seeing at least three pairs of goldfinches, an indigo bunting (pictured at left), at least one pair of rose-breasted grosbeaks, a pair of cardinals, many house finches and three varieties of woodpecker: hairy, downy and red-bellied.

And, one cannot walk back by the pond without hearing the Belted Kingfisher that has been resident for about two months now. It's very sharp "squawk" seems to be a warning, but perhaps is just a greeting. As far as we can tell, it is a single bird, not a pair, so he (or she) might be lonely.

The Kingfisher is a large, blue bird with very striking markings (pictured at right), so is hard to mistake for anything else. The fact that he or she is staying by the pond leads me to believe that the pond must have fish in it.

So, if you stop by Hennen, be sure to look & listen for the Kingfisher as you walk by the pond. And keep an eye open for the other colorful birds that call this place home.

Weeds Are Us

Well, that's what Michael Pollan, author of Botany of Desire, says. He makes a compelling case.

He points out that plants we call weeds are those plants that tend to do well in areas that have been disturbed by humans - farm fields, urban areas, any suburban lawn, for example...

Add to that the fact that people have moved plants around the planet for pretty much as long as humans have been moving themselves, and one can see that weeds and people are inextricably linked.

In some cases, we have even planted the future noxious weeds ourselves. This is the case with both multiflora rose and reed canary grass, which were promoted for planting by the federal government as recently as the 1960s! Today, there is not a natural area manager around who does not curse those plants on a regular basis.

Multiflora rose, with its thorns and long, twining vines, has ripped clothes, snagged skin, and made many walks through the woods unpleasant for decades now. Cutting it and treating the cut stalks with herbicide is about the only way to get rid of it. And that is tedious, unpleasant work!

Reed canary grass (rcg), which was recommended to farmers as a forage plant for low-lying areas, has now moved on to invade nearly any wetland area. Too many wetlands that were dominated by native plants just a decade ago are now dominated by reed canary grass. Rodeo (R) is an herbicide that will kill the grass, but because rcg produces so many seeds, it can take years just to exhaust the seed bank. And, if the area has any water draining into it, there is always the likelihood that seed will flow in from infested areas upstream.

It's daunting, isn't it?

So, what can one person do?

Well, the best thing to do it to plant only native species. Red Buffalo Nursery in Hebron has a nice feature on its website that allows one to get a list of native plants that fit certain criteria (amount of sun, soil conditions, and type of plant -- grass, forb, etc)

The second best thing to do is plant only species that are not invasive. The Chicago Botanic Garden has a nice feature available to help people choose plants that are not invasive - weedy - for most every situation.

Making different choices about what we plant will help stop the increase in invasive plants crowding out our local natural areas.

If you'd like to do more, you can volunteer to help at a restoration work day!

Feeding a hungry planet?

An article in Grist caught my attention today. It is about a recent NPR Marketplace piece touting the need for getting poor, rural farmers around the world using synthetic fertilizer & other chemicals if we are ever going to produce enough food to feed 9 billion people by 2050.

The problem with the story was that it relied on one man's opinion, and did not include any other perspective. The story did not mention that the chemicals and fertilizers are too expensive for poor, rural farmers in 3rd world countries to buy. Nor did it mention that there are other, low cost ways that rural farmers can boost productivity without becoming dependent upon petroleum-based fertilizers.

Finally, the story failed to mention a groundbreaking study about the future of agriculture that was conducted by the UN, World Bank and others, and completed in 2009. The 400 agriculture experts from around the world who worked on the project for 4 1/2 years, concluded that the planet must move away from chemical & fossil-fuel dependent agriculture if we want to have a sustainable future to feed a growing world population. In fact, the study recommends using an agro-ecological type of farming at a small and mid-size scale "that does not deplete natural capital."

No question that having enough food for everyone as the world population grows is an important issue. And, synthetic fertilizers and large-scale agriculture has worked well for some in the United States to generate amazing crop yields. But one has to ask if our way of doing things is a sustainable system with the cost of fuel rising & a growing interest in local food. Plus, is the US agriculture system even the right model for other parts of the world with vastly different cultures, transportation systems, soils & climates?

Greening Your Eating?

Did you know that 15-35% of municipal waste is a combination of food and paper that is soiled with food? In California, where landfill space is extremely tight, and towns are required to divert up to 75% of their waste from landfills, they actually provide special bins to residents for kitchen scraps.

The bins are picked up each week and the material taken to commercial compost facilities. The resulting material is spread on farm fields as a valuable soil amendment. Shoot, in some places, the compost is bagged and sold in stores!

We may not have curbside compost service in our area, but that is no reason to toss vegetable scraps in the trash. Rather, more folks could be composting them!

Kitchen compost can be added to the backyard compost pile, where it will decompose along with the grass and leaves from the yard. Avoid placing meats and fats in the compost bin, but all manner of vegetable and fruit material is fair game. Egg shells, corn cobs, pineapple rinds will all break down eventually, but the smaller they are chopped up before going into the pile, the faster the microbes and other decomposers can do their work!

And composting isn't limited to residential folks. Think about restaurants, and the amount of food waste that is generated just during the food preparation process. If the vegetable and fruit waste materials were kept separate, and placed in their own disposal container, they could easily be collected for composting.

One Woodstock restaurant is already doing just that: Expressly Leslie's on the Woodstock Square - a vegetarian restaurant that specializes in Middle Eastern food - separates all their compostable material. A local vermicomposter (person who composts food using worms) picks up the food scraps for his worms. Well, except for the lemon rinds -- his worms don't like lemons. Leslie even switched to compostable materials for serving the food to dramatically reduce the waste the restaurant generates.

So, what's keeping you from composting your kitchen scraps?

Farmers' Markets Coming Soon!

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I am practically giddy thinking about the opening of Woodstock's Farmers' Market on May 3rd!

It will be open from 8am - 1pm on Tuesdays and Saturdays through October. One of the nice things about this particular market is that it is a producers' market, meaning that only items raised or made by a local farmer can be sold. This helps keep the market from becoming a craft fair, or a venue for out of state producers to sell their goods.

No, this is a place where one knows that the items purchased are locally raised, locally made and the dollars spent are going into the local economy.

And, did you know that the Woodstock Farmers' Market accepts Link Cards? This means that anyone, regardless of his or her economic situation, has the opportunity to purchase fresh, local produce and meat.

For those who have never visited a Farmers' Market, here are a couple of tips for that first trip:

1. Walk through the entire market to see what is available and to compare quality and prices. Over time, most people develop an affinity for specific vendors, but on that first visit it's good to give everything a once-over before making the first purchase.

2. Bring reusable bags. The vendors have bags, but it feels very chic to carry a canvas bag or two through the market, and to pack it full of fresh, local items. Plus, its good for the Planet!

3. If one won't be taking the produce home right away, keep a small cooler in the car to store the day's purchases until they can be refrigerated.

4. Set a budget for each visit. This helps to ensure that one doesn't buy more than can be eaten before the next market trip. Trust me, there is nothing sadder than putting an heirloom tomato into the compost bin!

5. Try something new each time. The world of produce is quite amazing - beets for instance are not just for pickling! I like to wrap mine in foil and bake them until soft, then slip the skins off and use them sliced in salads. (Or I just eat them hot out of the oven -- the small ones are so sweet!)

6. Don't be afraid to ask. The producers - and/or their staff - are there to answer questions. They will help with suggestions on how to prepare items that may be unfamiliar, and will fill one in on the special characteristics of each different heirloom variety -- which tomatoes are better for making sauce or best sliced in a salad.

Woodstock may have the most robust market in the area, but it is by no means the only one! Starting in May 2011, Harvard will have a market on Ayer Street Saturdays from 8am - 1pm. Crystal Lake and Huntley will have markets on Saturdays again this year, but won't be starting until June.

For more information about the variety of local food available in the area, check out www.localharvest.org! Happy eating!

Oaky D'Oak, we're planting Oaks!

For Earth Day (April 22) and Arbor Day (April 30), TLC is planting oaks with people throughout McHenry County. These little trees will be Mighty Oaks one day, but it could be 20 years before we're sitting under their shade!

So, what's up with that? What's the point of planting a tree if it is going to take that long to turn into a "real" tree?

Well, for those readers who have been checking out this blog for the last couple of years, you already know the answer, but let's review - for old time's sake!

McHenry County was once 40% covered in oak-hickory woods and savannas. Today, nearly 90% of those woods have been lost. Many were cleared in the earliest days of settlement for farming or building homes, barns & fences, or even to provide fuel to heat homes. In fact, during the first 40 years following settlement, 50% of the oaks were cut down. Over the following 130 years, another 38% were sacrificed - primarily for development.

So, isn't one tree as good as another?

No, Oaks are better. They really are in many ways.

Oaks have acorns. Acorns are a valuable food source for a diversity of wildlife ranging from deer to blue jays. Native people would make biscuits from acorn flour because they were potent sources of energy.

Insects love oaks, and more insects use oaks for at least some part of their lifecycles than any other type of tree. And a diversity of insects translates directly into a diversity of birds! So, even if one doesn't appreciate insects, most folks do like birds.

Oaks are McHenry County's heritage. Not maples, not willows, not cottonwoods. Oaks. Quercus. Macrocarpa (bur), Rubra (red), Bicolor (swamp white), Alba (white). And if we play our cards right -- if we all do what we can to restore, protect and regenerate our local oaks -- oaks will be our future too!

Remember, the Greeks said: A society grows great when old men & women plant [oaks] whose shade they know they shall never sit in. Let's make McHenry County a great society!!

Ponds and Winter

I had a report the other day of dead bluegills on the shore of the pond at Ryder's Woods in Woodstock. Yuck. I didn't have to clean them up (phew), but I did want understand how it happened. Winterkill seems to be the most likely culprit, although no one is sure why it took the fish so long to make it to the surface.

Here's a bit more detail: According to Randy Schietzelt, Biology Professor at Harper College, ponds need to be at least 9 feet deep in Northern Illinois to prevent winterkill of the fish. But, even if the pond is deep enough, it is still very possible for the fish and other critters to use up all of the oxygen in the pond if the freeze last a long time. As Randy pointed out, this year's freeze lasted well into March.

David Wolf, attorney, and owner of two ponds reports that he has had winterkill in both is ponds, even though one is 14 feet deep at its deepest point. As a result, he has added an aerator to the ponds which keeps the oxygen level up all winter long. David also provided some additional wisdom that he gained from his friends at Keystone Hatcheries, who have helped David out with his ponds: essentially, when a pond is frozen over solid, the water cannot gain any oxygen through a process called diffusion - this is the process whereby water absorbs a certain amount of oxygen from the atmosphere based on air temperature and barometric pressure.

Additionally, the heavy (and long-lasting) snow cover blocks off any sunlight from reaching the pond, and that means that no photosynthesis can take place. When plants photosynthesize to create food, they release oxygen as a byproduct. If they stop photosynthesizing, they also stop producing oxygen.

Finally, Duane Ambroz, former Deparment of Natural Resources employee, and current restoration specialist with Red Buffalo Nursery, explained winterkill this way: "Sounds like a combination of thick ice from the early freeze and lengthy snow cover. That equals lack of oxygen in the water. Large bodies of water, or those with inflow of water, can usually get through the winter without running out of oxygen. Smaller ponds almost always run out of oxygen without an aerator."

So, the dead fish were most likely the result of winterkill where oxygen levels dropped so low that the fish could not breathe. They may have been lodged under something and only rose to the surface when the pond started to mix as it warmed during the few warm days earlier in the week. Either that, or it's the work of the Ryder's Woods ghost...?

P.S. you probably noticed that the picture has nothing to do with the story -- I just like the colors, and thought it was much nicer than a picture of dead fish!

Frogs and fairy shrimp and salamanders, oh my!

Did you hear the sound of a thumb raking over the teeth of a comb while on a recent hike? That's the Western Chorus Frog. The first frog to emerge when the ground thaws.

They are very loud near some wetlands in our area, particularly in the Alden region where small, fishless ponds (vernal pools) abound this time of the year. A diversity of tiny creatures, such as the fairy shrimp (photo to the right), are found in abundance, providing a valuable food source for the recently emerged amphibians, as well as the hatchling salamanders, frogs, toads and turtles.

In larger ponds - those with fish - these small creatures do not survive, as they become food for the fish. But, in the small temporary pools of spring, the young amphibians are able to mature, feed on mosquito larvae, and breed so there will be future generations!

If you live near one of these spring pools, be on the lookout for spotted salamanders! They have a tendency to end up in window wells - the three on the left were rescued from one during a spring hike to look at vernal pools and the critters found there!

Wild Things! Oh, you make my heart sing!

Every other year the Wild Things conference is held in Chicago. It's a forum geared primarily towards individuals who are engaged in natural land restoration throughout this part of the Midwest.

The number and diversity of programs is amazing -- ranging from how to make toys with buckthorn wood, to advice on using Social Media (like facebook and blogs) to connect with the community and other volunteers, plus plenty of research updates related to bird diversity, woodland restoration and invasive plant control...

The program was held in early March this year at UIC, and organizers say there were at least 1,400 people in attendance! That's a lot of Wild Things in one place! Generally speaking, the crowds were pretty laid-back. (Except when they realized that the Crunchy Vegetable sandwich was just cream cheese with cucumber slices... things nearly got ugly...)

I think my favorite session was by Joel Brown, a UIC faculty member known for creating "Project Squirrel" to monitor the distribution of grey & fox squirrel species around the US.

Dr. Brown is an evolutionary ecologist. That means he studies how natural selection serves to optimize natural community characteristics like feeding and reproduction. The data gathered through Project Squirrel help to understand the trends and characteristics of the two species. For instance, the study has found that fox squirrels tend to occur more frequently in areas with lots of stray cats than their grey cousins. Over time, the data will serve to track changes in the populations, perhaps yielding insights into the ways that evolution -- natural selection -- gives species the ability to adapt to environmental changes in just a few generations.

But, Dr. Brown didn't talk about Project Squirrel at Wild Things. Instead, he gave the room examples of how much & how fast species will evolve in the face of human disturbance.

Take Yellow Jackets for example. This bane of Labor Day parties in the Chicago region is now resistant to the poison in common pesticides like Black Flag. Dr. Brown suggested taking a can of Black Flag, and spraying a yellow jacket until it is so wet it cannot fly. Then watch the pest. It will spread its wing to dry off, and once dry, it will fly away. Now, spray the pesticide on some ants or a fly -- they will die. But the yellow jacket will not. That's because over many generatons, yellow jackets in the Chicago area have evolved to be resistant to that chemical.

How does this happen? Well, consider that in the early days of the pesticide, there were a few yellow jackets who survived - either they didn't get a strong enough dose, or they already had some natural resistance to the chemical. Those individuals passed their resistance on to the next generation. And so on and so on, until the vast majority of yellow jackets that emerge in the Chicago area have that same resistance. That is "natural selection," and it is happening right in front of us every day.

Plants adapt the same way to herbicides - they become resistant. And then the chemical companies create new poisons that the plants are not yet resistant to. BUT, it's only a matter of time before they develop resistance. It's a viscious circle, isn't it?

The same type of adaptation happens to animals - even to city-dwelling pests like raccoons. As Dr. Brown pointed out, one is not doing the neighborhood raccoon any favors by trapping it and taking it out to live in "nature" at a forest preserve or conservation area. City raccoons are adapted to live in town. Putting one out in nature is essentially signing its death warrant.

Better to learn to live with the raccoons than to relocate them.

Horses and their connection to water quality!

The Illinois Horse industry is a $1.3 Billion dollar industry, and the highest concentration of horses in Illinois is found in McHenry and Lake Counties.

And every adult horse generates up to 55 pounds of manure every day. When you add in the bedding straw, that amount to 12 TONS of the stuff per horse per year.

When not managed properly, horse manure can increase flies and spread of parasites among horses. It can also impact water quality when not stored correctly. And that can mean excess nutrients, bacteria and parasites in local streams or even in the groundwater.

Now, one might ask "why don't the horse farms just spread it on the fields?" That's a good question! First off, depending on how much land one has, and how many horses, it could be problematic to spread that much manure on the fields. Second, many horses have round worms, and if their feces are spread on a field, the worms (a nasty parasite) can survive up to 10 years - so that's potentiall 10 years of round worm infections for the horses.

However, hot composting of the manure will kill most bacteria and parasites - provided the compost process is of a sufficient duration.

In Lake County, a waste hauler, Prairie Land Recycling & Disposal, collects horse manure from many farms and takes it to a facility called Midwest Organics that composts the material with other compostables. They bag the finished product, and it is actually sold at Whole Foods!

There is another option that has been developed by the University of Illinois Extension service: ManureShare. This is a manure exchange program that links gardeners and landscapers who are searching for good compost material with livestock owners who have excess manure.

Quoting from the website: This benefits water quality by removing excess nutrients from farms and by lowering the amount of commercial fertilizer used by gardenrs and others.

The Hooved Animal Humane Society (HAHS) in Woodstock is working with Extension to run a demonstration of on-site composting of horse manure. It will be interesting to see how the program works!

Fleming Road Update

With 17 Natural Heritage Corridor Easements under our belt, I guess TLC is serious about helping to preserve the Fleming Road corridor!

After attending the County DOT's fourth Citizen's Advisory Group meeting for Fleming Road on March 3rd. I can summarize the comments from the Village of Bull Valley, Fleming Road Alliance, Environmental Defenders, Boone Creek Watershed Alliance & County Bicycle Advocates in three words:

"You're Not Listening!"

Two alternatives were presented to the group: one that would require the removal of about 120 trees, and another that would result in just 19 trees being taken down. The one that saves more trees would use retaining walls and curbs/gutters in spots to reduce the amount of grading they would do where there are hills adjacent to the road as in the picture.

The members of the CAG have been saying for nearly a year that they would like the County to consider an alternative that keeps the road in the same footprint as it is in today -- 2- 10 1/2 foot lanes and a one foot shoulder (of sorts) on either side of the pavement.

Folks agree that the road needs to be repaired, and that there are a small number of areas where water pools on the road. They just don't understand why $935,000 or so is being spent to study "how" to overhaul the road, when the residents have asked that it be kept much as it is today.

At one point the discussion turned to safety, and the need to make the road more safe. A representative from the County Sheriff's department commented that the incidence of accidents on the road is "amazingly low." One of the CAG members pointed out that a good way to predict the future is to look at the past -- in other words, perhaps Fleming Road has such a low accident rate for the simple reason that it is in the configuration that it is today.

In fact, studies show that wide, flat, straight roads are less safe than roads that are more narrow and have trees and the like nearer to the pavement.

So, if we place safety ahead of speed, then maybe the road agencies could start replicating the design of Fleming Road - windy, hilly, narrow roads with lots of large trees near the pavement?

12-step program for gasoholics?

Well, I don't suppose anyone is surprised that the media talking heads are predicting that gas prices could hit $4 or $5 a gallon by Memorial Day.

Prices have been rising steadily since the unrest started in Egypt a couple of weeks ago, and now that Libya has come un-hinged, the gas companies are not wasting a minute raising prices for the consumer. Come on, they went up 5-cents in the last 24 hours based on rumors that Ghadafi is going to blow up Libya's oil wells.

Even though Libya produces just 2% of the world's oil!

Now, I don't fault the local station owners - they have such a small margin to work with, and they don't call the shots. No, I believe the blame lies primarily with the corporate honchos who seem to book record profits each year, regardless of what happens -- oil surpluses, oil shortages, giant oil spills covering the Gulf.

But the average person really needs to take some responsiblity for the situation. After all, it is America's gas-guzzling lifestyle that makes us so economically vulnerable to the political drama in just a handful of countries and that makes it so easy for a half-dozen or so corporate CEOs to bring the world economy to its knees.

There is an answer. We need to kick the gas habit.

Time for a 12-step program for gasoholics:

- group your errands so you drive less

- shut the car engine off if you are going to be idling for 20 seconds or more - a car gets zero miles to the gallon when idling

- make sure your tires are properly inflated -- you can improve mileage by 15% that way

- drive smarter: go the speed limit, no jack-rabbit starts, no tail-gating or anything else that causes one to drive in a herky-jerky way (you get the picture)

- if you have to have a car, get one that's more fuel efficient than whatever you are driving now

- walk, carpool, take public transportation, use a bicycle -- anything that means turning over the ignition in one's car less frequently -- a lot less

- buy food that is grown locally - food transportation uses a large amount of gasoline, especially when the average item in the grocery store has travelled 3,000 miles to get to that shelf...

- replace the gas lawn mower with an electric or manual model

- go meatless one day a week, and be sure you buy your meat from a local farmer

- turn the thermostat down in winter and up in summer - at least 2 degrees

- pay the neighborhood kid $20 to shovel your driveway instead of starting the snow-blower (okay, the Feb 2 snow was a bit more than the kid could manage...)

.... that's 11 ideas. What do you suggest for number 12?

A Valentine's Day Fable

This morning I heard a Cardinal singing as I took seed out for the birds. This brought to mind a story I was once told about the origins of Valentine's Day, and the day's connection with the red bird Cardinalis caradinalis.

But, first, a little history. While Saint Valentine's Day appears to have been recognized by the Catholic church dating back to the early days of Christianity, with no fewer than three Saints named Valentine linked to the date of February 14th. While the greeting card industry has attempted to link at least one of the Saints to something of a tragic-romantic story that would establish him as the source of this day of eternal love, there is no basis in fact for these claims.

Historians tend to connect the celebration to a Roman pagan holiday of fertility that occurred in mid-February. But, it wasn't until 1382 that Geoffrey Chaucer became first person to link the feast of Saint Valentine's Day with romantic love, when he penned these lines (adapted from the old English):

For this was on Saint Valentine's Day

When every bird come there to choose his mate

A few years ago, a local man told me the story that he had always been told of Valentine's Day, and while I cannot find any support for it on the Internet, it does make sense when I put Chaucer together with the Cardinal's song.

The story is that February 14th was the typical day that male cardinals were heard singing to establish their territories and attract a mate for the season. The bright red of the bird and the cardinal's quest for a mate were translated by some romantic soul into the image of a red heart which stays with us to this day.

Each year since I first heard that story, I have noticed a male cardinal's song in mid-February. I wonder if Chaucer was inspired by that same song some 700+ years ago?

Are oaks like people?

The first TLC easement was accepted in 1991 from Leta & Alice Clark at the corner of Thompson Road & Route 120. The sisters wanted to be sure that their "Wildflower Preserve" was never developed, despite a friend's comment that the corner "would make a perfect spot for a gas station" one day! Actually, legend tells me that the friend's comment is what led the sisters to seek out someone to help them make sure that fate would never befall their lovely corner.

The photo was taken in April 2010 while driving past on Route 120, heading from McHenry to Woodstock. About 10 years ago, IDOT redid the intersection and took some land along Thomspon and 120, which I believe led to the eventual die-off of several oaks that were very near to the roads.

There was an enormous bur oak right at the corner that died in 2009. Some say "fungus" was the cause, but I feel in my heart that the bur oak's fate was sealed as soon as its roots were cut and crushed during the road work a decade ago.

I have started to think of these oak trees as if they were people. It's not that far-fetched, really. Sure, they live 2-3 times longer than most people, but they cannot reproduce until they reach some stage of maturity -- about 20 years old. Each oak is unique, and grows more distinctive as it ages.

As most people age, it isn't usually one thing that kills us, it's some combination of things that add up over the years. Well, why wouldn't it be the same for our oaks?

I would like to think that we can afford these elders a little respect, rather than seeing how much abuse they can take before they succumb?

Memories of snows past...

My younger brother was born January 23, 1967, just before the BIG snow. I was just 4 at the time, but my memories of the giant mounds of snow - everywhere - are quite vivid.

The photo isn't of our house -- I can't find one of those -- but it is from the '67 snow. You have to look closely, but there is a boy standing on the pile of snow on the right side of the photo. (Doesn't that look like fun!)


Dad built a hill of snow at the side of the garage that made a sledding hill extending from the top of the garage on down. I have seen the pictures of my sister and I standing in our snow suits next to the giant hill, perhaps wondering where mom was, and why we were having to eat so many hard boiled eggs... (dad was not much of a cook)

We would have been too young to understand that mom was stuck at the hospital, having been conscripted to work as a nurse's aid since the hospital was short-staffed due to the storm! There was no way for dad to get to Evanston Hospital to bring her and our baby brother home.

I have a clear memory of the 1979 snow because we didn't have to go to school for at least a couple of days, so a friend and I put our snow pants on and went trudging through the town. We visited other friends, stopping in their homes for hot cocoa and cookies, and trying to talk them into joining us on our trek.

Today, the news reports are that a similar storm ("blizzard") is on its way Tuesday night and into Wednesday. Possibly 18 inches in 24 hours, on top of the 6 inches expected tonight. Sounds like a good reason for a snow day - or two!!

Enjoy!!

Why does it snow?

Do you ever wonder why it snows?

With the regular snow events that we've had since early December, I find myself thinking about snow - where it comes from and why it falls...

Well, the simple explanation is that we get snow when moisture falls from the clouds and the air is below freezing, so the water falls in a frozen state.

Actually, it is so cold up in the clouds that all rain starts out as snow, but then it thaws on the way down.

According to a short article on The Weather Predictor website, ice crystals form in clouds, and as they stick to each other, eventually they become heavy enough that they fall.

If the air is warm enough on the way down, the ice crystals (aka snow flakes) turn into rain drops. If the air temperature is just above freezing, the snowflakes partly melt and we get sleet. And if the air is below freezing, then we get snow!

Now, snow takes up a lot more space than rain. In fact, on average, a 10" snow fall, if melted, would yield about an inch of water. So, when we get a couple inches of snow, and traffic gets all messed up -- cars in the ditch, skidding on the slick pavement -- that is an amount of water equivalent to less than a quarter inch of rain.

John Fowles' Tree

In 1979, author John Fowles released his non-fiction book "The Tree." Coming from the author of The French Lieutenant's Woman, this sweet little book must have surprised many.

The writing style is pure Fowles - densely packed with sensuous descriptions of his life in England - but the subject matter is unexpected.

Using his experiences with trees growing up and living in both urban and rural England, he expertly tells a story of the interdependence of humankind, art and nature.

Thirty years ago, he was asking questions that we have yet to answer. How do we heal the disconnect between people and nature? Are doing nature a disservice when we try to explain it using science, rather than appreciating it as we do great art?

Nature is much more than the sum of its parts, just as a Picasso is more than brush strokes on canvas.

What would it say about us if we took all of the works of poetry ever written and gathered them together to destroy them? Fowles felt that this is exactly what we were doing to the natural world. Taking the amazing, complex and original creation that was given to us, and destroying it -- consciously, deliberately, knowingly denying future generations the opportunity to enjoy and experience things that we have had the chance to know.

It's quite barbaric, actually, when one stops to think about it.

He offers no answers, at least nothing explicitly stated. But, as with a Fowles' novel, answers are there on the periphery, at the edge of consciousness. That place that lies between dream and reality, where truth is often found.

For Fowles, the secret to nature lies in the woods. As he explains, woods are quite elusive to the artist, whether she be writer or photographer. The reason is that the complexity of any woodland can never be captured in its entirety - it can only be experienced by the individual.

That seems the crux of the challenge we face in changing the prevailing relationship between humankind and nature: there is not one answer - there are as many answers as there are individuals.