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- Barb Cattani: So I 
wanna start by introducing

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our keynote speaker, 
Stephen Packard.

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Stephen has led numerous efforts

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to restore 
high-quality prairies,

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savannas, woodlands, 
and wetlands.

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He initiated the North 
Branch Restoration Project,

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a volunteer-driven project

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to restore and 
protect ecosystems

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along the North Branch 
of the Chicago River,

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which was featured in the 
book Miracle Under the Oaks .

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His work led to careers as

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the director of 
science and stewardship

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with the Illinois 
Nature Conservancy,

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and a teaching position with 
Northwestern University.

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He was a founding board member

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of the Society for 
Ecological Restoration,

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which now has chapters 
throughout the world

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and is a preeminent organization 
in this flourishing field.

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Stephen currently collaborates 
with a wide variety

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of efforts to 
conserve natural areas

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and create a culture 
of conservation.

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Please join me in 
welcoming Stephen Packard.

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[audience applauding]

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- Thank you, and 
thank you Wild Ones.

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Some of us in nature find 
magic and fun, lots of it.

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As Wild Ones, 
we build community.

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We the people 
educate and restore.

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Some of my friends 
ask sometimes,

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[audience laughing]

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"What are you doing puttering 
around in your garden

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"when the Earth faces 
such challenges?"

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But in fact, we are only 
beginning to understand

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and doing the early experiments

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of how to restore health 
to the planetary ecosystem.

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And I'll tell you some stories

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and show you some experiments 
from that struggle,

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that struggle and that fun.

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In the case of shooting stars, 
we love beautiful flowers,

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but we care more about the seeds

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as we do ecosystem restoration.

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The seeds from these 
shooting stars,

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which had been a rare 
plant in our region,

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take 10 years from germination 
to flowering in the wild.

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But once you get them 
into the ecosystem,

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the ecosystem is on the way.

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This is Linda and 
my house, garden,

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little wilderness patches.

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All the wild plants 
we grow in our yards

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are there for providing seed.

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We need rare seed to 
restore ecosystems.

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We gather more than 
200 species every year

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and we put them in more 
than a dozen different mixes

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and put them out into the woods,

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prairies, wetlands, 
fens, sedge meadows.

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Many of the seeds you can't 
get very well in the wild

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because they are way 
down below other plants

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by the time the seeds are set,

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and hard to find in 
large quantities.

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Or like this 
Bicknell's geranium,

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they pop as soon 
as they're ripe,

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and you have to be 
there at that moment

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or you don't get the ripe seeds.

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So as we do this 
work, we get together,

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we think about it, we plan 
spring, summer, fall, winter.

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When the seed season is 
over starts our brush bash

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and bonfire burn season, and 
that goes all winter long.

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And we look forward 
to every season.

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We like winter.

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In winter, we do some of 
our most profound work.

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We think through the ecosystem, 
what needs to be cut out

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in order to provide the most 
health as we move forward.

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Our work events 
are social events.

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People bake delicious treats 
and bring them to these events.

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Would we rather be 
inside watching TV?

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Oh, please.

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[audience laughing]

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Winter is also a great 
time to study history

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and broaden the planning.

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Most of Southern Wisconsin 
and Northern Illinois

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looked like this for 
thousands of years.

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Prairie to the west of rivers 
and other fire obstacles,

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savanna and woodland 
to the east.

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And we started with prairie.

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In fact, the University of 
Wisconsin Arboretum in Madison

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was the first 
place on the planet

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where people truly engaged 
with restoring health

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to a natural 
ecosystem: the prairie.

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It seemed so rare 
in the Midwest.

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Less than one one-hundredth 
of one percent

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of the original 
prairie survives.

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The Amazon Rainforest, 
50% surviving.

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Very important, but there's 
hardly anything left.

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If we want to save the 
genetic resources

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of the temperate world for a 
thousand different reasons,

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we need to save the ecosystems 
of the temperate world.

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In this case, we 
started on sown prairie,

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two acres of high-quality 
prairie surviving

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in 100 acres of mostly 
brush and weeds.

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And over the last 
40 years, we've done

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what I will describe to 
you throughout this talk

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so that now most of that 
hundred acres looks like this

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or is on the way to it.

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When we started out...

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[audience applauding] 
[Stephen laughing]

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Go ecosystem! [laughing]

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When we started out,

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much of the site I'm showing 
you looked like this.

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Fun in this case meant 
recreational vehicles,

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which people meant no harm by, 
they were having fun.

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Most of the site looked like 
this, mostly a few species,

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mostly not part of the 
native prairie ecosystem.

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One part looked like this.

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This turned out to be one

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of the healthiest 
parts of the site

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because the kids 
had kept it open,

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it hadn't shaded over,

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and endangered species 
survived around the edge

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where the brush hadn't 
gotten too dark.

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But now, 40 years later, this 
exact place looks like this.

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[audience murmuring]

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It contains the endangered 
bearded wheat grass,

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it contains--

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not 'cause we planted it, 
but 'cause the seeds were

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blowing around the site 
from others we planted,

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the federal endangered 
prairie white-fringed orchid.

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A great many rare and 
endangered plants grew

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where kids once had a 
different kind of fun.

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Here's what this 
recovering ecosystem

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looks like in early spring.

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Here's what it looks 
like in summer.

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And much of what I'll 
talk about takes place

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in what survives as 
the Midwest wilderness,

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but a lot of what I'll talk 
about to my Wild Ones friends

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is in our little yard.

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Here it is, the one 
little patch of our yard

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where there's enough 
sun to grow prairie.

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We don't do a lot of 
prairie in our yard,

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but about six feet across, 
we have a bit of prairie.

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Just to the northwest 
of that, we have, or had,

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woodland ecosystem 
until the ash tree died.

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You can see it mulched 
in the middle here there.

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How will these woodland plants,

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which we're growing for seed, 
do in full sun for a while?

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Well, we're letting 
some hazel bushes

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and hickory trees grow,

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and they're doing 
reasonably well.

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The flora of the open woodland

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does okay in full 
sun for a while.

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Here, we're looking at 
the whole front yard

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and both of our neighbors' 
houses on either side.

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This is not a big lot, not a 
big house, it's not a big yard,

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but here and there, there 
are the right conditions

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for most of the plants we want.

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If you look over to the left,

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you'll see a little 
hophornbeam tree,

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and under that hophornbeam

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there is Robin's plantain, 
Erigeron pulchellus,

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and a great many species that 
we really wanna get seed from.

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And on the very 
bottom on the left

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are the leaves of the 
endangered Liatris scariosa,

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savanna blazing star.

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We'll hear more about 
that later, too.

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Here's the backyard.

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It's wild and woolly.

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Some of the neighbors were 
a little nervous about it.

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When one neighbor was selling 
their house next door,

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the real estate agent 
came over and said,

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"Your lawn is... what?"

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And I said, "Oh, the lawn's 
actually a little scraggly,

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"the lawn part, we'll 
mow that right up.

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"But as for the rest of it..."

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And I described it, and 
the real estate agent,

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and you can see the real 
estate mind is at work, said,

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"Oh, it's not unkempt, 
it's special."

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[audience laughing]

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"I have a feature for 
you, prospective owners.

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"Your next house has a 
yard that's special."

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[audience laughing]

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In this case, we 
did not have much

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purple Joe-Pye weed to 
gather seeds of early on.

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You can see it's more 
than abundant here.

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When we planted the seeds out

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in hundreds of acres of 
open woodland ecosystem,

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we got more than we needed.

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It's gone from our yard.

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We do a lot of gardening 
by subtraction.

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When we don't need 
the seeds anymore,

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we cut it out and 
given that pressure,

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other stuff that we 
wanna grow does well.

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Some plants just don't 
do well in our yard

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in difficult competition,

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so they grow a little 
patch beside our garage

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between a little walkway and...

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We have many species of 
rare and endangered plants

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that thrive in here,

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and we get seeds of 
them year after year,

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put them out in the ecosystem,

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and pretty soon they're off 
and running on their own.

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This is our neighbor 
Malcolm's yard.

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You can see ours 
in the background.

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They have a very different look.

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But those little red flags here

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mark individual milkweed shoots.

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We gave Malcolm a couple 
of milkweed plants.

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He put 'em right in his lawn.

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He mows around them.

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But they become big ranging 
plants and are covered

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during the rest of the 
summer with monarch eggs.

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And we grow lots of monarchs.

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Here they are, 
here's two monarchs

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nectaring on the endangered 
savanna blazing star.

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They have a wonderful 
time together.

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The monarchs just love 
the savanna blazing star,

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spend a lot of time on it.

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We also grow a lot of shrubs.

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In the early days of 
restoration,

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there was a principle:

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the prairie is most 
threatened by woody plants,

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cut 'em out.

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We cut out a lot 
of native shrubs.

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We need to cut out a 
lot of native shrubs

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if the prairie's gonna recover.

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Under modern conditions,

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you have to burn an awful 
lot to keep the shrubs down,

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and some of the invertebrates

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don't wanna burn 
quite that often.

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On the other hand, in the 
savanna and in the oak woodland,

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we want a lot of 
shrubs in patches.

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Much of the savanna and 
woodland were open, too.

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You could gallop a horse 
through the woodland, they said.

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But there were 
patches here and there

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which were critical 
that many species

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of birds, butterflies, 
and others.

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So this is American plum.

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In order to get it to 
germinate properly,

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we sacrifice by personally 
eating all the fruit.

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[audience laughing]

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And then some people have had 
trouble germinating this one.

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We just put it in dirt, 
put it in the refrigerator,

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let it stay there 
over the winter,

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and next spring 
they've all sprouted

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and we [coughs] plant them out.

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In a four foot across 
patch, weeded carefully,

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we can get hundreds 
of star grass bulbs,

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hypoxis, and violet 
wood-sorrel bulbs,

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and a number of 
species of violets,

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some of which are 
challenging to gather seed.

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00:13:33,466 --> 00:13:36,566
We gather a lot, but we 
also take those bulbs,

249
00:13:36,666 --> 00:13:40,266
harvest them, dig them 
up, don't eat them,

250
00:13:40,366 --> 00:13:45,066
put them out where they'll 
be able to proliferate

251
00:13:46,066 --> 00:13:49,400
so that formerly 
very rare plants,

252
00:13:49,500 --> 00:13:53,533
we now have tens of thousands 
of yellow star grass

253
00:13:53,633 --> 00:13:56,800
and violet wood-sorrel 
plants blooming

254
00:13:56,900 --> 00:14:00,266
in our restored prairies 
and savannas nearby.

255
00:14:01,866 --> 00:14:03,900
In the case of 
some rare species,

256
00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:06,600
this one is purple 
prairie clover,

257
00:14:06,700 --> 00:14:09,666
the purple one down underneath 
the big compass plant,

258
00:14:09,766 --> 00:14:12,033
it doesn't do very 
well in our yard

259
00:14:12,133 --> 00:14:15,100
and it doesn't need to 
because we got it going

260
00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:17,200
early in the restored area,

261
00:14:17,300 --> 00:14:19,000
and we just gather 
the seed and spread it

262
00:14:19,100 --> 00:14:20,500
and gather the 
seed and spread it,

263
00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,133
and we have at 
least 100,000 plants

264
00:14:23,233 --> 00:14:25,366
of purple prairie clover.

265
00:14:26,366 --> 00:14:28,466
So that was my introduction.

266
00:14:28,566 --> 00:14:30,900
Now five little experiments

267
00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,200
starring a couple of 
species of orchids,

268
00:14:34,300 --> 00:14:37,800
the quest for seed, 
Bicknell's geranium,

269
00:14:37,900 --> 00:14:39,800
and plant Guantanamo.

270
00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,233
This is the small 
white lady-slipper.

271
00:14:44,333 --> 00:14:46,233
Had been endangered in Illinois

272
00:14:46,333 --> 00:14:48,033
until we put a lot 
of work into it,

273
00:14:48,133 --> 00:14:51,466
and now it's doing well enough 
to be taken off the list.

274
00:14:52,466 --> 00:14:56,033
This one we found 
did well for us

275
00:14:57,033 --> 00:15:02,766
only when the seeds were planted 
in a very high-quality system.

276
00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:09,433
When I say did well, it was 
not immediate gratification.

277
00:15:09,533 --> 00:15:12,600
Having planted a few 
times in a few places

278
00:15:12,700 --> 00:15:14,833
and kept careful records,

279
00:15:14,933 --> 00:15:19,400
we find that this one pops 
up and blooms luxuriantly

280
00:15:19,500 --> 00:15:22,333
after 10 years or so. 
[audience laughing]

281
00:15:22,433 --> 00:15:26,233
It spends most of its 
early years underground,

282
00:15:26,333 --> 00:15:28,566
not putting up a single leaf.

283
00:15:28,666 --> 00:15:32,133
It forms a little 
conspiracy with a fungus

284
00:15:32,233 --> 00:15:34,200
and the orchid seed says,

285
00:15:34,300 --> 00:15:36,233
"Oh, fungus tendrils 
coming towards me,

286
00:15:36,333 --> 00:15:38,100
"please don't infect my seed.

287
00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:41,100
"My seed is so small, 
it's just a few cells."

288
00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:45,400
And then the fungus ties into 
it and then the orchid says,

289
00:15:45,500 --> 00:15:49,100
"Ha ha, I'm taking you over, 
and we'll work together

290
00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,700
"to build a nice, big root

291
00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:56,000
"that after eight or ten years 
is ready to come up

292
00:15:56,100 --> 00:15:59,133
"and put up a flower," 
the first year very often.

293
00:16:00,500 --> 00:16:03,166
But we found this 
one only in a place

294
00:16:03,266 --> 00:16:05,100
that was being bulldozed.

295
00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,433
We found it at the last moment.

296
00:16:08,566 --> 00:16:11,533
We raced out, dodging 
people who thought

297
00:16:11,633 --> 00:16:13,366
we weren't supposed to be there,

298
00:16:13,466 --> 00:16:15,966
and dug up these plants.

299
00:16:16,066 --> 00:16:18,666
We planted them in 
badly disturbed areas

300
00:16:18,766 --> 00:16:21,200
'cause we didn't wanna 
dig up high-quality areas,

301
00:16:21,300 --> 00:16:24,200
and they lived there, but 
they refused to reproduce.

302
00:16:25,733 --> 00:16:30,500
Later, we said "Let's 
try, it's making seed,

303
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,000
"it's not reproducing at all,

304
00:16:32,100 --> 00:16:34,566
"let's just move the seed 
to the high-quality areas."

305
00:16:34,666 --> 00:16:36,033
And they came up 
by the hundreds,

306
00:16:36,133 --> 00:16:39,666
so that was a wonderful 
thing, except for one problem.

307
00:16:40,833 --> 00:16:46,566
They grow in these, now, in 
these little Guantanamo cages.

308
00:16:46,666 --> 00:16:49,066
The deer eat every 
one we don't cage.

309
00:16:49,166 --> 00:16:51,266
Thank your hunters 
in areas where

310
00:16:51,366 --> 00:16:53,566
deer populations are imbalanced.

311
00:16:54,566 --> 00:16:56,400
These are not people of evil

312
00:16:56,500 --> 00:16:59,566
as they are portrayed 
in some cases.

313
00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:07,400
But for now, 
generous people cage

314
00:17:07,500 --> 00:17:11,100
every lady-slipper every 
year, and they do great.

315
00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:13,000
This is the prairie 
white-fringed orchid.

316
00:17:13,100 --> 00:17:15,100
Another one deer like to eat.

317
00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:21,266
This one we found dwindling, 
tiny little populations,

318
00:17:21,366 --> 00:17:23,366
and what it needed 
most, it turned out,

319
00:17:23,466 --> 00:17:27,466
when we carefully watched it, 
was hand pollination.

320
00:17:27,566 --> 00:17:32,133
It was too rare for pollinators 
to find it, figure it out.

321
00:17:32,233 --> 00:17:34,033
Pollinators love it 
once they figure it out.

322
00:17:34,133 --> 00:17:37,800
Big hawk moths are the only 
ones that can pollinate it.

323
00:17:37,900 --> 00:17:41,833
But most weren't setting seed,

324
00:17:41,933 --> 00:17:45,166
and so we learned how 
to hand-pollinate them.

325
00:17:45,266 --> 00:17:47,300
It's quite a process.

326
00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:50,766
It's a very intimate process.

327
00:17:50,866 --> 00:17:54,966
It's all sticky and you 
get that little pollinium

328
00:17:55,066 --> 00:17:56,833
on the end of a toothpick,

329
00:17:56,933 --> 00:17:59,900
and this toothpick had 
two pollinia on them

330
00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:04,066
and it pushed one up against 
this sticky, gooey surface,

331
00:18:04,166 --> 00:18:06,100
the stigma of the flower.

332
00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:07,833
And then it gets 
all stuck in that

333
00:18:07,933 --> 00:18:10,233
and you can see 
it sort of is this

334
00:18:10,333 --> 00:18:12,600
almost like elastic thing 
as you're pulling back,

335
00:18:12,700 --> 00:18:14,466
and it'll go back, "Sprong,"

336
00:18:14,566 --> 00:18:16,700
and then you go to 
the next flower.

337
00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:22,200
For the moth, there's this 
feature where when the moth,

338
00:18:23,533 --> 00:18:25,000
if this is a moth tongue,

339
00:18:26,333 --> 00:18:28,400
and it sticks itself 
into the flower,

340
00:18:28,500 --> 00:18:31,733
the pollinium is in there

341
00:18:31,833 --> 00:18:34,800
and it gets stuck on 
the moth like this,

342
00:18:34,900 --> 00:18:38,200
and this is the part 
with all the pollen,

343
00:18:38,300 --> 00:18:42,000
and it flies to other 
flowers on that plant

344
00:18:42,100 --> 00:18:45,966
and gets its wonderful nectar.

345
00:18:46,066 --> 00:18:49,866
And then after just 
a minute or so,

346
00:18:49,966 --> 00:18:51,866
after there's been time 
to get to the next plant,

347
00:18:51,966 --> 00:18:53,400
you can see this thing goes...

348
00:18:55,900 --> 00:18:57,566
And now the pollen 
is sticking forward,

349
00:18:57,666 --> 00:19:01,633
and it's immoral of orchids

350
00:19:01,733 --> 00:19:04,466
to exchange pollen 
within the same plant.

351
00:19:04,566 --> 00:19:07,633
They wanna go to another plant.

352
00:19:07,733 --> 00:19:08,866
So that's how they do it.

353
00:19:08,966 --> 00:19:11,233
So you learn these 
kinds of things

354
00:19:11,333 --> 00:19:14,766
in order to figure out how to 
save these wonderful species.

355
00:19:14,866 --> 00:19:17,966
Here's our graph of how many

356
00:19:18,066 --> 00:19:21,033
white-fringed orchids 
there were at Somme.

357
00:19:21,133 --> 00:19:23,733
You can see from this experiment

358
00:19:23,833 --> 00:19:26,766
that if you followed 
it for merely

359
00:19:26,866 --> 00:19:28,733
the first prothetic 20 years,

360
00:19:28,833 --> 00:19:32,233
it wouldn't look like 
it was doing much.

361
00:19:32,333 --> 00:19:35,466
And we find many of 
our plants do this.

362
00:19:35,566 --> 00:19:38,933
It takes them a while 
to figure out the site.

363
00:19:39,033 --> 00:19:42,100
Maybe genes are exchanging and 
they're finding combinations

364
00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:44,633
that work with our 
soils and our hydrology

365
00:19:44,733 --> 00:19:49,400
and our predators or 
whatever as a hypothesis.

366
00:19:49,500 --> 00:19:51,866
We see so many graphs like this.

367
00:19:51,966 --> 00:19:56,400
But now that there are 400 
or 500 plants a year,

368
00:19:56,500 --> 00:19:59,300
this site has more 
white-fringed orchids

369
00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,433
than any other 
site on the planet

370
00:20:02,533 --> 00:20:05,000
or any, one or two depending on,

371
00:20:05,100 --> 00:20:07,400
who's leading the 
charge that year.

372
00:20:07,500 --> 00:20:09,366
And this is just because of

373
00:20:09,466 --> 00:20:12,233
a few wonderful 
people like yourselves

374
00:20:12,333 --> 00:20:15,466
putting a lot of time into 
it and figuring it out.

375
00:20:15,566 --> 00:20:22,366
So seeds is a big part 
of what we do all year.

376
00:20:22,466 --> 00:20:25,000
All summer long, 
we're gathering seeds,

377
00:20:25,100 --> 00:20:26,766
starting with the 
ones that ripen first,

378
00:20:26,866 --> 00:20:29,666
then middle, then early 
fall, then late fall.

379
00:20:29,766 --> 00:20:32,300
Here we have seeds 
of cream gentian,

380
00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:34,566
a wonderful savanna species.

381
00:20:34,666 --> 00:20:38,333
The three part, otherwise 
spherical seeds in the middle

382
00:20:38,433 --> 00:20:40,166
are New Jersey tea.

383
00:20:40,266 --> 00:20:41,700
If you want that 
one to germinate,

384
00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:44,233
you need to pour 
boiling water over it.

385
00:20:44,333 --> 00:20:48,466
Don't ask me why, but that's 
what the literature says.

386
00:20:48,566 --> 00:20:51,766
And we trusted the literature, 
but we tried it both ways.

387
00:20:51,866 --> 00:20:54,266
No germination without 
the boiling water,

388
00:20:54,366 --> 00:20:57,066
full germination with 
the boiling water.

389
00:20:57,166 --> 00:20:59,433
Don't boil it, just 
pour some over it.

390
00:21:00,766 --> 00:21:05,200
Then the seeds in that 
pod are of a species

391
00:21:05,300 --> 00:21:09,500
that pioneer children used 
to call sow and piglet.

392
00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:14,133
And you can see those little 
suckling baptisia seeds

393
00:21:14,233 --> 00:21:15,966
inside their pods.

394
00:21:16,066 --> 00:21:18,300
This one you chip with a knife

395
00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:20,166
in order to get a 
little coating off it

396
00:21:20,266 --> 00:21:22,900
if you wanted to 
germinate it right away.

397
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,666
If you don't care so much 
about immediate gratification,

398
00:21:26,766 --> 00:21:28,733
just throw it out 
and the bacteria

399
00:21:28,833 --> 00:21:31,166
will eat away at that 
coating over the years,

400
00:21:31,266 --> 00:21:33,666
and someday it will germinate.

401
00:21:36,266 --> 00:21:40,266
When we gather seeds, all 
kinds of people take part.

402
00:21:40,366 --> 00:21:43,200
Little kids are sometimes 
very competitive

403
00:21:43,300 --> 00:21:46,400
and thoughtful and 
smart and learn,

404
00:21:46,500 --> 00:21:49,566
and a little kid 
can learn to say

405
00:21:49,666 --> 00:21:52,800
Eryngium yuccifolium 
before you can turn around.

406
00:21:52,900 --> 00:21:53,966
[audience chuckling]

407
00:21:54,066 --> 00:21:57,500
And we get vast 
numbers of seeds.

408
00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,000
We also find that 
for many people,

409
00:22:00,100 --> 00:22:04,400
seed collecting is a stress 
reducer, it's meditative.

410
00:22:04,500 --> 00:22:06,133
We just do it.

411
00:22:06,233 --> 00:22:10,466
You pare, you're thinking, 
you're out with other people,

412
00:22:10,566 --> 00:22:11,933
you might wanna chat with them,

413
00:22:12,033 --> 00:22:14,866
then you might wanna get 
away from them for a while,

414
00:22:14,966 --> 00:22:16,766
and you're in the ecosystem.

415
00:22:16,866 --> 00:22:20,000
One fellow during 
seed-picking expeditions

416
00:22:20,100 --> 00:22:22,533
used to come and 
hide in the bushes,

417
00:22:22,633 --> 00:22:25,433
we didn't notice he had 
something under his jacket,

418
00:22:25,533 --> 00:22:28,666
and quietly played the flute

419
00:22:28,766 --> 00:22:31,066
[audience awws] 
while... [laughs]

420
00:22:31,166 --> 00:22:35,100
So this is culture, this 
is building a culture.

421
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:38,433
Once again, we're thinking 
about how to get seeds

422
00:22:38,533 --> 00:22:42,333
and how some of them, 
when you find in the wild,

423
00:22:42,433 --> 00:22:43,900
you can get only a handful,

424
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,233
and to be effective, 
you need to put

425
00:22:46,333 --> 00:22:49,200
tens of thousands or 
millions of seeds all over,

426
00:22:49,300 --> 00:22:52,133
'cause many of them have to 
find just the right place.

427
00:22:52,233 --> 00:22:53,833
They bloom with 
the right friends,

428
00:22:53,933 --> 00:22:56,200
they bloom after the 
right conditions.

429
00:22:57,400 --> 00:22:59,966
And so one of the things we do

430
00:23:00,066 --> 00:23:04,200
is we take the rarest, 
most difficult,

431
00:23:04,300 --> 00:23:07,466
the seeds that we need the most 
of the most conservative plants,

432
00:23:07,566 --> 00:23:09,833
the most important 
ones to the ecosystem,

433
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:12,866
we give them to the 
Chicago Botanic Garden

434
00:23:12,966 --> 00:23:15,433
and their propagators 
propagate them

435
00:23:15,533 --> 00:23:18,033
and they grow them in 
little pots like this

436
00:23:18,133 --> 00:23:21,600
and give them to us, and 
then we distribute them

437
00:23:21,700 --> 00:23:25,233
among Wild Ones and 
friendly gardeners

438
00:23:25,333 --> 00:23:27,800
who promise not to 
have any other species

439
00:23:27,900 --> 00:23:29,300
of that kind in their yards,

440
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:34,000
'cause we don't want genes 
from, god forbid, Wisconsin

441
00:23:34,100 --> 00:23:36,766
or Nebraska to be mixing in. 
[audience laughing]

442
00:23:36,866 --> 00:23:39,633
We wanna save the 
local gene pool.

443
00:23:39,733 --> 00:23:43,100
And they grow these 
plants, and they love them,

444
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,700
and they harvest the 
seeds when they're ripe,

445
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:47,366
they manage to keep 
an eye on them.

446
00:23:47,466 --> 00:23:49,233
If something is 
growing over them,

447
00:23:49,333 --> 00:23:51,233
they know to look under 
'cause it's in their garden

448
00:23:51,333 --> 00:23:52,500
and they're watching it,

449
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,666
and we get a tremendous 
amount of seed that way.

450
00:23:55,766 --> 00:23:58,333
There are many species 
that the propagators

451
00:23:58,433 --> 00:24:03,000
at the Botanic Garden 
were no good at growing,

452
00:24:03,100 --> 00:24:08,000
couldn't get 'em, but one of 
the volunteers, Rob Sulski,

453
00:24:08,100 --> 00:24:10,433
said, "What's the matter 
with these people?

454
00:24:10,533 --> 00:24:12,733
"I can do this, 
I'll figure it out."

455
00:24:12,833 --> 00:24:14,333
And he tried a lot 
of different things,

456
00:24:14,433 --> 00:24:16,500
he did a lot of 
different research.

457
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:20,666
One of his favorite 
things to do is get seeds

458
00:24:20,766 --> 00:24:23,166
and get a little soil 
from around the plants

459
00:24:23,266 --> 00:24:28,033
that the seeds came from, 
grow them with great pains

460
00:24:28,133 --> 00:24:31,166
until he's got a healthy plant,

461
00:24:31,266 --> 00:24:34,000
and then he puts a 
funnel around it.

462
00:24:34,100 --> 00:24:35,700
It goes into the pot.

463
00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:40,300
And then as the seeds pop or 
fall off or whatever they do,

464
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:44,333
they all go down into 
the soil in that pot.

465
00:24:44,433 --> 00:24:48,400
And then he has maybe 100 little 
plants growing in that pot.

466
00:24:48,500 --> 00:24:50,666
And then he invites us all over

467
00:24:50,766 --> 00:24:55,666
and we tease those plants apart 
and put them in little new pots,

468
00:24:55,766 --> 00:25:00,400
and then we can plant those 
out into the ecosystem.

469
00:25:00,500 --> 00:25:03,500
These people who are laughing

470
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:05,700
are having a profound 
conversation,

471
00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:09,233
looking down at the endangered 
Bicknell's geranium.

472
00:25:09,333 --> 00:25:14,233
In our area, we find 
Bicknell geranium

473
00:25:14,333 --> 00:25:19,400
only in one situation: around 
the edges of brush pile burns.

474
00:25:19,500 --> 00:25:21,500
We don't find it anywhere else.

475
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:23,733
And at least for our ecotypes,

476
00:25:23,833 --> 00:25:27,866
a grass fire or a 
woodland leaf fire

477
00:25:27,966 --> 00:25:30,200
does not release the seeds.

478
00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,533
Maybe for us it grew where 
tree trunks fell over

479
00:25:34,633 --> 00:25:36,733
and caught on fire and 
sterilized the soil,

480
00:25:36,833 --> 00:25:40,233
and then there are lines of 
geraniums along the edge.

481
00:25:40,333 --> 00:25:44,200
But this is a plant 
that is in trouble.

482
00:25:44,300 --> 00:25:47,066
We don't have enough 
big, old, dead trees,

483
00:25:47,166 --> 00:25:49,366
and we're not sure 
how long those seeds

484
00:25:49,466 --> 00:25:51,566
are gonna last in the soil.

485
00:25:51,666 --> 00:25:55,133
So we decided to try and figure 
out what to do with them.

486
00:25:55,233 --> 00:25:59,300
This is Bicknell's geranium 
reaching out of its cage.

487
00:26:00,966 --> 00:26:03,400
We allow it to 
escape Guantanamo.

488
00:26:03,500 --> 00:26:05,566
When the plants 
get a little older,

489
00:26:05,666 --> 00:26:07,333
the deer eat 'em and kill 'em

490
00:26:07,433 --> 00:26:10,266
and pull 'em up by the 
roots when they're young,

491
00:26:10,366 --> 00:26:12,833
and don't so much 
go after them later.

492
00:26:12,933 --> 00:26:15,400
This is that splendid 
little flower.

493
00:26:15,500 --> 00:26:18,133
This is that sprong 
we saw earlier.

494
00:26:18,233 --> 00:26:21,033
You have to get 'em 
just before this stage.

495
00:26:21,133 --> 00:26:23,200
But then how do we plant them?

496
00:26:23,300 --> 00:26:26,566
And so we decided 
to do experiments

497
00:26:26,666 --> 00:26:30,466
of putting them in little 
fires, under the fire,

498
00:26:30,566 --> 00:26:34,533
on the edge of the fire, for 
different amounts of time.

499
00:26:34,633 --> 00:26:36,833
I encourage you 
to do experiments.

500
00:26:36,933 --> 00:26:38,533
They're fun. 
[audience laughing]

501
00:26:38,633 --> 00:26:42,166
But they're a lot more fun 
if you keep careful notes.

502
00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:46,466
For many years, we 
thought, "Oh, this is so,

503
00:26:46,566 --> 00:26:49,066
"what we're doing is so 
significant, we'll surely

504
00:26:49,166 --> 00:26:53,600
"remember all the details." 
[audience laughing]

505
00:26:53,700 --> 00:26:55,866
Maybe others have 
had that experience.

506
00:26:55,966 --> 00:27:00,233
So we kept careful notes, 
we plotted, thought,

507
00:27:00,333 --> 00:27:05,466
we gave the Botanic Garden 
scientists our draft protocols.

508
00:27:05,566 --> 00:27:09,300
They made wonderful 
suggestions to improve them.

509
00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,633
We did all these 
many different tests,

510
00:27:12,733 --> 00:27:15,566
and we found that we 
basically learned nothing

511
00:27:15,666 --> 00:27:18,933
'cause in every case 
that they germinated,

512
00:27:19,033 --> 00:27:21,733
we heated them for a short 
time, for a long time,

513
00:27:21,833 --> 00:27:24,166
right under the fire, 
at the side of the fire,

514
00:27:24,266 --> 00:27:26,766
just some coals put on 'em,

515
00:27:26,866 --> 00:27:29,033
heavy burning logs, 
they all germinated.

516
00:27:29,133 --> 00:27:32,133
But we learned that, 
and that was good.

517
00:27:33,233 --> 00:27:38,900
Here's something we learned when 
we used oak trees in the savanna

518
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:41,133
to mark corners of experiments.

519
00:27:41,233 --> 00:27:43,166
We wanted the experiments 
to be out in the open,

520
00:27:43,266 --> 00:27:47,966
so we'd find a seedling oak 
and we'd make a careful map

521
00:27:48,066 --> 00:27:50,800
and put in other features 
of the landscape,

522
00:27:50,900 --> 00:27:54,033
and then we'd seed 
within the rectangle

523
00:27:54,133 --> 00:27:56,466
or quadrangle or whatever.

524
00:27:56,566 --> 00:28:00,433
If we could find three 
oaks, it was a triangle.

525
00:28:01,500 --> 00:28:02,666
That's geometry.

526
00:28:02,766 --> 00:28:06,300
[audience laughing] 
And 40 years later,

527
00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:08,866
we happened to notice 
that these oaks

528
00:28:08,966 --> 00:28:12,833
that we used as markers were 
still a foot or two tall.

529
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:17,166
What happens to those 
oaks if you watch them?

530
00:28:17,266 --> 00:28:22,166
Well, we burn them every year 
or two and the top burns off,

531
00:28:22,266 --> 00:28:24,833
but oaks are 
prodigious resprouters.

532
00:28:24,933 --> 00:28:29,533
They resprout with great energy, 
a great amount of protein

533
00:28:29,633 --> 00:28:33,466
and the deer love it, and the 
deer eat 'em down to nothing.

534
00:28:33,566 --> 00:28:37,833
And they barely get a foot or 
two tall before the next fire,

535
00:28:37,933 --> 00:28:40,166
and then we burn 'em off again.

536
00:28:40,266 --> 00:28:42,466
So we've started making

537
00:28:42,566 --> 00:28:44,833
little Guantanamos 
for our oak trees.

538
00:28:44,933 --> 00:28:47,333
This one kept it from 
the deer for a while.

539
00:28:47,433 --> 00:28:48,800
Now it's hanging out,

540
00:28:48,900 --> 00:28:52,633
so some volunteer has to 
get to it and raise the cage

541
00:28:52,733 --> 00:28:55,566
if we want it to keep going 
and getting above deer height.

542
00:28:55,666 --> 00:28:58,766
But we now have substantial 
oaks that are off,

543
00:28:58,866 --> 00:29:00,300
they've been launched,

544
00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:04,000
and the cages can go and 
guard something else.

545
00:29:04,100 --> 00:29:05,466
This is what our 
cages look like.

546
00:29:05,566 --> 00:29:07,833
We get this stuff at Home Depot.

547
00:29:07,933 --> 00:29:10,800
We have cage-making parties, 
they're fun.

548
00:29:10,900 --> 00:29:14,000
And they go around a 
lot of different plants.

549
00:29:14,100 --> 00:29:17,000
Prairie gentian is 
one that we have

550
00:29:17,100 --> 00:29:18,433
quite a bit of on some sites,

551
00:29:18,533 --> 00:29:21,200
but we never seem to be 
able to get any seed.

552
00:29:21,300 --> 00:29:25,333
And for us, we found that 
the deer were eating them

553
00:29:25,433 --> 00:29:28,633
every time before 
the seed formed.

554
00:29:28,733 --> 00:29:30,800
So we put deer cages on them.

555
00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:35,266
And then we found that the 
voles were eating every one

556
00:29:35,366 --> 00:29:37,266
[audience laughing] 
before they were seeded,

557
00:29:37,366 --> 00:29:39,833
so we invented vole cages.

558
00:29:39,933 --> 00:29:42,133
These, they're a little 
trickier to make,

559
00:29:42,233 --> 00:29:44,900
but those nice little 
things sticking up,

560
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,266
when you put 'em down into 
the soil while it's wet,

561
00:29:47,366 --> 00:29:50,066
when it hardens, they're 
in there nice and solid.

562
00:29:50,166 --> 00:29:54,966
And the gentians survive all 
the way through seed season,

563
00:29:55,066 --> 00:29:57,933
at which time we found 
that caterpillars

564
00:29:58,033 --> 00:30:00,833
were eating most of the seeds. 
[audience laughing]

565
00:30:00,933 --> 00:30:03,800
There's a sawfly 
caterpillar that gets in.

566
00:30:03,900 --> 00:30:07,333
But we get some, and with the 
some we throw them around,

567
00:30:07,433 --> 00:30:10,100
and the seeds, once you get 
the seeds, they do great.

568
00:30:11,100 --> 00:30:15,033
We also use the vole cages 
on plum trees and oak trees

569
00:30:15,133 --> 00:30:17,366
so the rabbits and voles won't 
eat the bark off

570
00:30:17,466 --> 00:30:19,266
during the winter.

571
00:30:19,366 --> 00:30:22,500
We use big cages 
in a few places.

572
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:26,200
This is a spot where 
we didn't think

573
00:30:26,300 --> 00:30:28,766
there was probably a 
major impact of the deer,

574
00:30:28,866 --> 00:30:31,233
but there was a small population

575
00:30:31,333 --> 00:30:35,133
of the endangered wood 
pea or cream vetchling,

576
00:30:35,233 --> 00:30:39,333
Lathyrus ochroleucus, 
almost gone from Illinois.

577
00:30:39,433 --> 00:30:42,033
So we put this fence 
around the whole patch

578
00:30:42,133 --> 00:30:44,400
and that turned out 
to be an experiment.

579
00:30:44,500 --> 00:30:46,133
Looks like the deer 
were having an impact

580
00:30:46,233 --> 00:30:48,066
on the large-flowered trillium.

581
00:30:48,166 --> 00:30:49,633
There it is, inside the cage.

582
00:30:49,733 --> 00:30:53,766
I emphasize this 
business with the deer

583
00:30:53,866 --> 00:30:56,533
not because we don't 
like them, we love them.

584
00:30:57,966 --> 00:31:00,900
We like to see them, 
we like to eat them,

585
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:05,233
we like them to be part 
of a balanced ecosystem.

586
00:31:06,533 --> 00:31:08,966
So three gravest threats.

587
00:31:09,066 --> 00:31:11,733
It wouldn't be right 
for me to give this talk

588
00:31:11,833 --> 00:31:16,133
without saying, in 
terms of conservation

589
00:31:16,233 --> 00:31:17,333
challenges and realities,

590
00:31:17,433 --> 00:31:20,833
there are really three 
very grave threats

591
00:31:20,933 --> 00:31:23,566
to our ecosystems these days.

592
00:31:23,666 --> 00:31:26,933
Invasive species, overpopulated 
deer, lack of fire.

593
00:31:27,033 --> 00:31:30,766
Those are the three, and we 
really need to think about them

594
00:31:30,866 --> 00:31:33,300
and we need to 
combat the problem.

595
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:38,700
I'll subject you to only one 
picture of invasive plants.

596
00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:43,066
Reed canary grass, teasel, 
purple loosestrife in this case.

597
00:31:43,166 --> 00:31:45,100
It's very important 
to be on top of them

598
00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,600
when just the first few 
get there and get 'em out.

599
00:31:48,700 --> 00:31:53,466
The reed canary grass, 
we spray herbicide on it.

600
00:31:53,566 --> 00:31:55,866
We don't know another 
way to get rid of it.

601
00:31:55,966 --> 00:32:01,266
We were too pure to use 
herbicide in our early years.

602
00:32:01,366 --> 00:32:04,700
We didn't paint the 
stumps with herbicide.

603
00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:06,966
Wonderful advisors told us,

604
00:32:07,066 --> 00:32:10,700
"We'll advise you only if 
you don't use herbicide,"

605
00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:13,600
and I said, "Well, you 
heard the mentors."

606
00:32:15,066 --> 00:32:20,066
Well, the mentors were wrong, 
and we found over the years,

607
00:32:21,733 --> 00:32:23,400
many people would come and say,

608
00:32:23,500 --> 00:32:26,333
"I'm interested, I'll be 
a steward of a preserve,

609
00:32:26,433 --> 00:32:28,266
"but I won't use herbicide,"

610
00:32:28,366 --> 00:32:31,366
and I'm not one for 
arguing with them.

611
00:32:31,466 --> 00:32:33,800
I would say, "Thank 
you, that's wonderful,

612
00:32:33,900 --> 00:32:35,833
"use herbicide or don't,

613
00:32:35,933 --> 00:32:38,800
"we can teach you 
if you wanna learn,"

614
00:32:38,900 --> 00:32:42,766
and we found, this is 
another experiment,

615
00:32:42,866 --> 00:32:46,366
that without exception, 
every such steward

616
00:32:46,466 --> 00:32:48,200
used herbicide or quit.

617
00:32:49,233 --> 00:32:51,466
In other words, it didn't work.

618
00:32:51,566 --> 00:32:54,733
On an area large 
enough for conservation

619
00:32:54,833 --> 00:32:59,700
of substantial populations 
of plants and animals,

620
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:02,933
you can't do it without 
herbiciding the invasives

621
00:33:03,033 --> 00:33:05,300
under modern conditions.

622
00:33:06,733 --> 00:33:08,533
Maybe someone can 
prove it to be done.

623
00:33:08,633 --> 00:33:12,266
We're eager to 
see their results.

624
00:33:12,366 --> 00:33:15,566
Same thing with deer, 
I'll only show you one photo.

625
00:33:15,666 --> 00:33:18,466
They're wonderful animals, 
they deserve our respect.

626
00:33:18,566 --> 00:33:22,766
Hunting and hunters also 
deserves our respect, I think.

627
00:33:22,866 --> 00:33:27,133
And fire, it's one 
of many celebratory,

628
00:33:27,233 --> 00:33:29,366
bright parts of the year.

629
00:33:29,466 --> 00:33:32,000
Every year we burn a 
part of the preserve,

630
00:33:32,100 --> 00:33:34,133
and here are some results.

631
00:33:34,233 --> 00:33:37,900
This is from 15 
years of restoration,

632
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:41,966
carefully monitoring according 
to a careful protocol

633
00:33:42,066 --> 00:33:46,366
within the restored areas and 
outside the restored areas

634
00:33:46,466 --> 00:33:48,100
and similar habitats.

635
00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:51,066
The bar on the left 
shows after restoration,

636
00:33:51,166 --> 00:33:54,866
the bar on the right 
counterintuitively shows before.

637
00:33:54,966 --> 00:33:59,366
The green is in the woodlands, 
the blue is in the grasslands,

638
00:33:59,466 --> 00:34:02,933
the orange is with 
all the different

639
00:34:03,033 --> 00:34:04,900
ecosystems put together.

640
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:07,900
Four times the 
vegetation quality,

641
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:09,700
four times the number of species

642
00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:14,333
per quadrant in the restored 
areas compared to the others.

643
00:34:14,433 --> 00:34:16,800
And initially we 
just did prairie.

644
00:34:18,166 --> 00:34:19,833
Later we discovered the savanna.

645
00:34:19,933 --> 00:34:22,933
Later we discovered the oak 
woodlands to be just as needy.

646
00:34:23,033 --> 00:34:26,833
Here's one of our oak 
woodlands when we started out.

647
00:34:26,933 --> 00:34:29,433
Those pole trees are invaders.

648
00:34:29,533 --> 00:34:31,566
They're native to the region,

649
00:34:31,666 --> 00:34:33,733
but they're invaders 
in the oak woods.

650
00:34:33,833 --> 00:34:38,333
They utterly prevent the 
oaks from reproducing.

651
00:34:38,433 --> 00:34:41,966
The understory is 
typically mostly buckthorn.

652
00:34:42,066 --> 00:34:43,366
The buckthorn and the pole trees

653
00:34:43,466 --> 00:34:45,600
kill off all the lower 
limbs of the oaks,

654
00:34:45,700 --> 00:34:46,900
which would tend to keep them

655
00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,666
in a natural open oak 
woodland or a savanna.

656
00:34:50,766 --> 00:34:55,366
And when time comes for the 
trees to meet their maker,

657
00:34:55,466 --> 00:34:57,333
there are no young oaks.

658
00:34:57,433 --> 00:34:59,000
In many cases, as in this one,

659
00:34:59,100 --> 00:35:01,166
there's nothing 
left but buckthorn.

660
00:35:01,266 --> 00:35:04,333
So we started experiments.

661
00:35:04,433 --> 00:35:07,633
Our first experiment 
was we burned only.

662
00:35:08,633 --> 00:35:12,233
We burned only for 
a couple of years,

663
00:35:12,333 --> 00:35:14,933
crawling around on the 
ground looking for seedlings.

664
00:35:15,033 --> 00:35:16,566
What's gonna come up?

665
00:35:16,666 --> 00:35:19,900
Answer: Canada 
thistle, dandelion,

666
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:21,166
[audience laughing]

667
00:35:21,266 --> 00:35:23,333
reed canary grass, 
there wasn't much.

668
00:35:23,433 --> 00:35:25,866
So we started seeding,

669
00:35:25,966 --> 00:35:30,166
and we discovered that 
the seeds of the woods

670
00:35:30,266 --> 00:35:33,400
are quite different from 
the seeds of the prairie.

671
00:35:33,500 --> 00:35:35,400
Lots of fruits.

672
00:35:35,500 --> 00:35:38,166
I don't know why, someone 
could research that.

673
00:35:38,266 --> 00:35:40,400
Fruits are animal-dispersed.

674
00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:44,266
Animals pick up big 
fruits and fly with them

675
00:35:44,366 --> 00:35:45,833
or walk around with them.

676
00:35:45,933 --> 00:35:49,166
And that place that you 
just saw looking so dismal

677
00:35:49,266 --> 00:35:50,833
with nothing but buckthorn,

678
00:35:50,933 --> 00:35:52,700
after a few years 
it looked like this,

679
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:55,800
in early summer it looked 
like this, in late summer.

680
00:35:55,900 --> 00:35:57,866
It's inspiring.

681
00:35:57,966 --> 00:36:02,900
Here's a study that's, 
this is a partial graph.

682
00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:05,633
It's now gone on since 1985.

683
00:36:05,733 --> 00:36:08,066
Every two years we 
sample the vegetation

684
00:36:08,166 --> 00:36:11,333
on a transect through 
this open woodland.

685
00:36:11,433 --> 00:36:15,400
The green line is 
quality species,

686
00:36:15,500 --> 00:36:19,333
ones that we would 
all love and cherish.

687
00:36:19,433 --> 00:36:22,933
The red line is hated 
weeds and aliens.

688
00:36:23,033 --> 00:36:26,200
There was mostly weeds and 
aliens when we started.

689
00:36:26,300 --> 00:36:28,733
This project thrived 
for a while,

690
00:36:28,833 --> 00:36:31,366
but then there was 
an explosion of deer,

691
00:36:31,466 --> 00:36:34,333
then both the village and 
the forest preserve district

692
00:36:34,433 --> 00:36:37,300
that owns the land 
started controlling them

693
00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:39,300
and it looked like 
the experiment

694
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:41,100
was on a good track again.

695
00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:43,633
Then there was a 
big political mess

696
00:36:43,733 --> 00:36:47,000
and all restoration by 
staff and volunteers

697
00:36:47,100 --> 00:36:50,133
in three counties 
was closed down.

698
00:36:51,366 --> 00:36:53,166
But after time, that 
was straightened out.

699
00:36:53,266 --> 00:36:54,500
And look at that graph.

700
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:56,233
I don't have the 
more recent years,

701
00:36:56,333 --> 00:36:57,733
but the green line 
keeps going up

702
00:36:57,833 --> 00:37:00,300
and the red line 
keeps going down.

703
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:02,600
It's inspiring, it's wonderful,

704
00:37:02,700 --> 00:37:06,833
it's still in early stages 
after 30-some years.

705
00:37:06,933 --> 00:37:08,800
It's got a long way to go.

706
00:37:08,900 --> 00:37:10,633
It's wonderful to watch.

707
00:37:10,733 --> 00:37:12,166
We were there at the beginning.

708
00:37:12,266 --> 00:37:14,266
I have every 
confidence that people

709
00:37:14,366 --> 00:37:17,100
will be watching it 
50 years from now,

710
00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:19,400
and I can't wait 
to read the paper.

711
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:22,433
We don't have the shrubs.

712
00:37:22,533 --> 00:37:25,733
There's a lot that is going 
to become more complex

713
00:37:25,833 --> 00:37:27,666
about this ecosystem,

714
00:37:27,766 --> 00:37:29,933
but there's a lot 
that we do have.

715
00:37:30,033 --> 00:37:32,266
Ron Panzer, a 
great entomologist,

716
00:37:32,366 --> 00:37:35,666
studied this site before 
we started and said,

717
00:37:35,766 --> 00:37:39,500
"I don't think you've 
got much to work with.

718
00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:41,633
"It's pretty far gone.

719
00:37:41,733 --> 00:37:45,300
"The Edwards' hairstreak,

720
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:50,400
"the commonest hairstreak of 
the savannas is not there."

721
00:37:51,866 --> 00:37:55,033
And four years later, he came 
back and repeated his study

722
00:37:55,133 --> 00:37:57,333
and said, "Packard, 
you're a genius.

723
00:37:57,433 --> 00:38:00,000
"We're finding white-fringed 
orchids all over the place

724
00:38:00,100 --> 00:38:01,866
"and the Edwards' hairstreak

725
00:38:01,966 --> 00:38:04,433
"is the commonest 
hairstreak on the site."

726
00:38:04,533 --> 00:38:08,200
And of course we did 
nothing for the hairstreak,

727
00:38:08,300 --> 00:38:10,266
we just restored habitat.

728
00:38:12,566 --> 00:38:15,400
Oh, that's the hairstreak.

729
00:38:15,500 --> 00:38:16,600
It's a beautiful thing.

730
00:38:16,700 --> 00:38:19,266
It's busy eating 
some New Jersey tea

731
00:38:19,366 --> 00:38:21,066
thanks to boiling water.

732
00:38:21,166 --> 00:38:25,800
We also did a before and 
after with breeding birds

733
00:38:25,900 --> 00:38:30,566
in the large oak woods 
where we got these numbers.

734
00:38:31,566 --> 00:38:35,866
Surveys on 2002, 2006 before 
the restoration started,

735
00:38:35,966 --> 00:38:38,533
we found a total of 15 birds

736
00:38:38,633 --> 00:38:41,166
on the transect 
of eight species.

737
00:38:41,266 --> 00:38:46,666
In 2016, 2017 after 
restoration was well underway,

738
00:38:47,666 --> 00:38:51,500
we found 88 birds of 26 species.

739
00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:53,566
And the species we found

740
00:38:53,666 --> 00:38:58,333
were species of 
conservation concern.

741
00:38:58,433 --> 00:38:59,500
The red-headed woodpecker,

742
00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:03,100
the northern 
flicker, a long list.

743
00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:05,066
One that came into our woods,

744
00:39:05,166 --> 00:39:06,966
it hadn't been 
around at all before,

745
00:39:07,066 --> 00:39:10,000
was the ruby-throated 
hummingbird.

746
00:39:10,100 --> 00:39:13,433
It eats a lot of 
insects that maybe

747
00:39:13,533 --> 00:39:15,033
other things don't eat so much.

748
00:39:15,133 --> 00:39:19,300
It does a lot of pollination 
of red-flowered species.

749
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:20,566
It just likes red.

750
00:39:20,666 --> 00:39:23,533
The insects don't see 
red, hummingbird does.

751
00:39:23,633 --> 00:39:27,566
They are now a great 
treat to watch.

752
00:39:27,666 --> 00:39:30,066
The indigo buntings, 
we didn't think of them

753
00:39:30,166 --> 00:39:32,933
as woodland birds, but when 
the woodland gets opened,

754
00:39:33,033 --> 00:39:36,366
there are a lot of 
buntings breeding.

755
00:39:36,466 --> 00:39:40,033
She's the beautiful one and 
she knows how to build the nest,

756
00:39:40,133 --> 00:39:43,733
and they build it in 
our open woodlands.

757
00:39:43,833 --> 00:39:46,800
The bluebirds of 
course came back.

758
00:39:46,900 --> 00:39:50,633
The scarlet tanagers were 
breeding in our savanna

759
00:39:50,733 --> 00:39:53,566
when the savanna was 
choked with brush,

760
00:39:53,666 --> 00:39:57,500
and we drove them out, 
we felt bad about that.

761
00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:00,700
But there had been one pair 
breeding in the savannas.

762
00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:02,700
Now there are three or 
four pair every year

763
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:04,433
breeding in the woodlands.

764
00:40:04,533 --> 00:40:07,300
So you help some things 
and you hurt others,

765
00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:09,033
but if you're doing 
good conservation,

766
00:40:09,133 --> 00:40:11,500
overall you're 
helping everything.

767
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:13,200
The coyotes came in.

768
00:40:13,300 --> 00:40:16,333
They make a big 
difference for the birds.

769
00:40:16,433 --> 00:40:19,766
They control the mesopredators,

770
00:40:19,866 --> 00:40:24,100
the raccoons, skunks, 
opossums, weasels, that...

771
00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:28,233
We like all those, but there 
can be too much of a good thing

772
00:40:28,333 --> 00:40:31,066
and without the coyotes,

773
00:40:31,166 --> 00:40:33,933
those predators eat 
most of the nestlings

774
00:40:34,033 --> 00:40:37,700
of the black-billed 
cuckoo and the woodcock

775
00:40:37,800 --> 00:40:39,633
and some of the other birds

776
00:40:39,733 --> 00:40:41,933
that nest on the 
ground or close to it.

777
00:40:42,033 --> 00:40:45,933
The woodcocks have returned 
in such impressive numbers

778
00:40:46,033 --> 00:40:49,600
that when I send my reports 
in to Cornell every year,

779
00:40:49,700 --> 00:40:52,466
I always get a note 
saying, "You sure?

780
00:40:52,566 --> 00:40:54,566
"You know, can we...

781
00:40:54,666 --> 00:40:58,233
"How many do you say 
in your area, we...

782
00:40:58,333 --> 00:40:59,800
"That doesn't sound right."

783
00:40:59,900 --> 00:41:01,533
And I say, "Yeah, 
check recent years

784
00:41:01,633 --> 00:41:06,533
"and come out and take a look 
if you want, they're just..."

785
00:41:06,633 --> 00:41:10,466
We find a ton of babies every 
year, we find a ton of nests.

786
00:41:10,566 --> 00:41:13,633
The woodhen starts 
sitting on the nest

787
00:41:13,733 --> 00:41:16,400
often when it's still snowing.

788
00:41:16,500 --> 00:41:19,533
She's still on the nest 
when the plants come out.

789
00:41:19,633 --> 00:41:22,666
She sits right on the ground, 
you can walk right up to her.

790
00:41:22,766 --> 00:41:25,200
If you're tramping 
around off-trail,

791
00:41:25,300 --> 00:41:29,033
you'll step on them 
or scare them up.

792
00:41:29,133 --> 00:41:33,066
We encourage people to stay on 
the trail during that season.

793
00:41:33,166 --> 00:41:35,933
Here's a baby woodcock. 
How many people can see it?

794
00:41:36,033 --> 00:41:37,600
[all laughing]

795
00:41:37,700 --> 00:41:40,133
Oh, I see people 
pointing, that's good.

796
00:41:40,233 --> 00:41:42,566
I wonder if I could point to it.

797
00:41:42,666 --> 00:41:45,300
It's little eyes 
looking up at it.

798
00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:48,366
You could miss that if you 
were just walking along.

799
00:41:48,466 --> 00:41:49,833
And they won't move.

800
00:41:51,100 --> 00:41:53,833
[audience awws] 
And here it's a little older

801
00:41:53,933 --> 00:41:55,933
and looks like it's 
having more fun.

802
00:41:56,033 --> 00:41:58,566
So I wanna end up 
with a few comments

803
00:41:58,666 --> 00:42:04,433
on the human community joining 
the community of nature

804
00:42:04,533 --> 00:42:07,266
and how that's a 
beginning for the planet

805
00:42:07,366 --> 00:42:09,666
of something very much needed:

806
00:42:09,766 --> 00:42:13,600
a friendly, positive approach

807
00:42:13,700 --> 00:42:17,200
that at least most 
people can understand

808
00:42:17,300 --> 00:42:23,166
of human beings reinhabiting, 
re-participating,

809
00:42:23,266 --> 00:42:26,866
re-becoming interdependent

810
00:42:26,966 --> 00:42:29,700
in a knowledgeable 
way with nature.

811
00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:34,100
Many communities, here we're 
at the Orland Grassland,

812
00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:37,200
great numbers of regular 
everyday citizens

813
00:42:37,300 --> 00:42:40,766
come out and learn to gather 
the seeds that are needed.

814
00:42:40,866 --> 00:42:42,833
We prep the seeds,

815
00:42:42,933 --> 00:42:47,366
lots of people get expert 
at different types,

816
00:42:47,466 --> 00:42:50,100
they learn how to teach 
people how to do it.

817
00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:54,166
When we put the seeds out, 
everyone feels very generative,

818
00:42:54,266 --> 00:42:56,366
and it's a wonderful feeling.

819
00:42:56,466 --> 00:42:59,200
Here we are at Spring Creek,

820
00:42:59,300 --> 00:43:02,100
here we're at the 
Orland Grassland.

821
00:43:03,100 --> 00:43:05,333
Kids, we used to be careful

822
00:43:05,433 --> 00:43:07,133
not to give them 
the rarest plants.

823
00:43:07,233 --> 00:43:10,533
We found often, they 
take the most care.

824
00:43:10,633 --> 00:43:13,333
It's a personal area, 
you have to pick the kid,

825
00:43:13,433 --> 00:43:16,166
but we want them really 
widely distributed.

826
00:43:16,266 --> 00:43:19,933
A machine cannot do it as well 
as these people can do it.

827
00:43:20,033 --> 00:43:23,833
It's another seasonal 
highlight, seasonal ritual.

828
00:43:23,933 --> 00:43:25,866
After the seeds are out,

829
00:43:25,966 --> 00:43:29,533
very often the 
organizers celebrate

830
00:43:29,633 --> 00:43:33,833
with someone's backyard 
or here around a bonfire.

831
00:43:33,933 --> 00:43:35,100
A few people cut brush

832
00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:37,066
while other people 
put the seeds out.

833
00:43:37,166 --> 00:43:40,333
And it's part of 
building community.

834
00:43:40,433 --> 00:43:43,733
Once the seeds are out, we 
start cutting brush again,

835
00:43:43,833 --> 00:43:46,366
we invite the schools to come,

836
00:43:46,466 --> 00:43:49,666
many kids who otherwise 
don't ever see nature

837
00:43:49,766 --> 00:43:53,166
see it, like it, it 
has an impact on them.

838
00:43:53,266 --> 00:43:54,566
Many families come.

839
00:43:54,666 --> 00:43:58,566
Some kids grow up in 
families of stewards.

840
00:43:58,666 --> 00:44:01,366
And it's just a 
valuable thing for them.

841
00:44:01,466 --> 00:44:05,700
Every year for 
thousands of years,

842
00:44:05,800 --> 00:44:08,966
cultures that 
understood the ecosystem

843
00:44:09,066 --> 00:44:12,566
held bonfire festivals 
on the solstice,

844
00:44:12,666 --> 00:44:15,333
at New Year's, at midwinter,

845
00:44:15,433 --> 00:44:17,633
to celebrate the 
coming of spring.

846
00:44:17,733 --> 00:44:21,666
You name it, there's an 
excuse, hold a bonfire.

847
00:44:21,766 --> 00:44:26,233
We, for ours at the Somme 
Preserves in Northbrook,

848
00:44:26,333 --> 00:44:30,400
invite a bagpiper every year 
who leads a procession out.

849
00:44:30,500 --> 00:44:32,933
400 neighbors come,

850
00:44:33,033 --> 00:44:36,100
many of whom hadn't been 
in the woods before,

851
00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:38,033
to participate in 
a wonderful event.

852
00:44:38,133 --> 00:44:40,666
They're close to the 
bonfire when it starts,

853
00:44:40,766 --> 00:44:42,066
and then they move back

854
00:44:42,166 --> 00:44:45,200
and back and back and back. 
[audience laughing]

855
00:44:45,300 --> 00:44:47,466
Once again, people 
bake wonderful treats

856
00:44:47,566 --> 00:44:50,066
and we have a great time.

857
00:44:50,166 --> 00:44:55,233
And as a result of work 
like the Wild Ones is doing

858
00:44:55,333 --> 00:44:57,100
and these people are doing,

859
00:44:57,200 --> 00:44:59,533
more and more 
government agencies

860
00:44:59,633 --> 00:45:03,466
are recognizing that 
ecosystem restoration

861
00:45:03,566 --> 00:45:07,233
is an important part of 
the mission of the agency.

862
00:45:07,333 --> 00:45:12,766
Cook County is now appropriating 
millions of dollars annually

863
00:45:12,866 --> 00:45:16,100
for restoration by contractors.

864
00:45:16,200 --> 00:45:18,433
Young people, here they are,

865
00:45:18,533 --> 00:45:21,966
a bunch of people being 
paid to do restoration,

866
00:45:22,066 --> 00:45:25,000
are finding careers 
in the field,

867
00:45:25,100 --> 00:45:26,333
which is a wonderful thing,

868
00:45:26,433 --> 00:45:29,433
having professionals 
is a wonderful thing.

869
00:45:29,533 --> 00:45:33,700
But it will never 
replace the volunteers

870
00:45:33,800 --> 00:45:37,800
who are the participatory 
democracy heart

871
00:45:37,900 --> 00:45:42,333
of conservation, 
environment, ecology.

872
00:45:42,433 --> 00:45:45,766
Some of us are both 
professionals and volunteers.

873
00:45:45,866 --> 00:45:50,533
We plan for the future, 
we pay attention to kids

874
00:45:50,633 --> 00:45:53,333
because they are the 
voters of the future,

875
00:45:53,433 --> 00:45:55,500
and for their own benefits.

876
00:45:55,600 --> 00:45:58,066
It enriches peoples' lives.

877
00:45:58,166 --> 00:46:02,966
And my favorite slides to 
end on, this is a butterfly

878
00:46:03,066 --> 00:46:06,533
that's almost extinct in 
Illinois, the silvery blue.

879
00:46:06,633 --> 00:46:08,933
It eats this endangered plant,

880
00:46:09,033 --> 00:46:14,200
the wood pea, cream vetchling 
or the veined vetchling.

881
00:46:15,200 --> 00:46:17,933
It depends on us as 
stewards for its habitat.

882
00:46:18,033 --> 00:46:22,133
It has no chance with 
climate changing.

883
00:46:22,233 --> 00:46:25,866
It needs robust 
populations, large habitats.

884
00:46:25,966 --> 00:46:28,166
Here's the caterpillar 
of that plant,

885
00:46:28,266 --> 00:46:29,966
and if you look 
closely you can see

886
00:46:30,066 --> 00:46:31,833
it is attended by ants.

887
00:46:32,833 --> 00:46:35,166
And the ants and 
the caterpillar have

888
00:46:35,266 --> 00:46:37,566
an ancient relationship.

889
00:46:37,666 --> 00:46:40,866
The ants protect the caterpillar

890
00:46:40,966 --> 00:46:45,533
from parasites and 
predators of certain kinds,

891
00:46:45,633 --> 00:46:49,533
and the caterpillar in 
return waits for the ants

892
00:46:49,633 --> 00:46:52,400
to stroke its back 
with their antennae,

893
00:46:52,500 --> 00:46:57,900
at which it exudes up 
a droplet of a food

894
00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:02,166
that the ants find irresistible 
and possibly important.

895
00:47:03,166 --> 00:47:07,566
Does it have vitamins? 
Is it intoxicating?

896
00:47:07,666 --> 00:47:08,733
[audience laughing]

897
00:47:08,833 --> 00:47:12,166
We don't know, but we know that

898
00:47:12,266 --> 00:47:16,066
these plants and animals 
depend on each other

899
00:47:16,166 --> 00:47:18,433
as all plants and animals,

900
00:47:18,533 --> 00:47:23,200
and we, the humans who 
breathe the same air

901
00:47:23,300 --> 00:47:29,233
that the animals and plants 
exchange, critical for us.

902
00:47:29,333 --> 00:47:32,966
So I wanna express appreciation

903
00:47:33,066 --> 00:47:35,333
for everybody who 
organized the conference,

904
00:47:35,433 --> 00:47:37,400
for everybody who 
does this work,

905
00:47:37,500 --> 00:47:41,366
for the scientists 
who are discovering

906
00:47:41,466 --> 00:47:45,333
new components for us to 
incorporate every day,

907
00:47:45,433 --> 00:47:48,466
contractors, home 
gardeners, everybody.

908
00:47:48,566 --> 00:47:51,800
It's a wonderful world and 
we're making it better.

909
00:47:51,900 --> 00:47:52,966
Thank you.

910
00:47:53,066 --> 00:47:56,300
[audience applauding]