The intersection of County Line and Hart Roads has been a challenging scenario this year with all the road construction.
And, while driving through, you may have noticed additional activity
just to the southwest, adjacent to the BACT Pederson Preserve.
It doesn't look pretty...
YET!
This approximately 5 acre property began its transformational journey in late summer 2021, when Todd and Libby Rieke committed to an extensive restoration effort that will culminate in a breathtaking rebirth of native Illinois prairieland.
"Our vision for the property is to make it a beautiful gateway into Barrington (from the west) restoring it to its original native habitat," said Todd Rieke. "We’ve enjoyed our partnership with BACT and look forward to donating the property to them next year."
In partnership with BACT and Bluestem Ecological Services, the Rieke's vision is becoming reality. Let's step back in time to review the condition of this property when this project began.
These 5 acres were severely degraded and choked with invasive species. The eastern edge of the property is Flint Creek's western bank. This critical habitat is part of the Flint Creek Watershed.
"The Flint Creek Watershed Plan identifies the Rieke Property as an important area for stream restoration and maintenance," explains Flint Creek Spring Creek Watershed Partnership Coordinator Jeff Weiss.
"Replacing invasive plants with deep-rooted native plants will allow more water to soak into the soil to reduce flooding, recharge drinking water supplies, and sequester more carbon underground. Vegetated stream banks reduce erosion, provide wildlife habitat for birds, and insect pollinators and natural beauty for visitors."
Bluestem Ecological Services Project manager David Stout adds, "We started the bulk of construction in October and just are just finishing up. We are restoring the Rieke preserve from a degraded and buckthorn infested woodland to a tallgrass prairie."
Restoration began with buckthorn removal and site mowing to control the invasive vegetation height. This was followed by two applications of herbicide to eliminate active invasive vegetation. While this will not prevent the existing invasive vegetation seed bank from sprouting in the future, it did prevent additional seeds from being added during this year's growing season. Plus, it gives the new sprouting native plants a fighting chance to establish next spring.
The topsoil has been prepared to maximize seed-soil contact and generate a higher germination rate of the seeds that will be spread this fall ~ an abundant, varied array of native prairie grasses and blooming plants! An erosion blanket is being added to protect the new seeds over winter.
Per David Stout, "Areas along Flint Creek have been planted with a specialized seed mix with plants that are better adapted to wetter soils. Additionally, we have supplemented the usual seeding mixtures with a variety of native wildflowers to increase the diversity of the plant community.
"People will start to see new vegetation emerge next year. In the early stages we can expect to see plants such as coneflowers and milkweeds coming through. With stewardship and time, the area will eventually develop over the course of a few years into a colorful tallgrass prairie with over 50 species native grasses, wildflowers and shrubs!"
BACT will also be vigilant for evidence of fly dumping such as we cleaned up at neighboring Pederson Preserve in 2021. Fly dumping occurs when a hauler wants to get rid of a load of trash without going all the way to the dump. They find a quiet spot and dump "on the fly". Pederson Preserve was repeatedly subjected to this indignity many years ago and the concrete chunks, terra cotta drain tile shards and more worked their way to the surface over time. The top soil was moved aside, the trash scraped out and the soil replaced. Then, a lush variety of native seeds were sown to heal that scar. On Earth Day, we added a Bald Cypress and a variety of sedges to the wetland portion of the restoration. The area is recovering nicely!
The above photo is the view of the Rieke Family Preserve from neighboring Pederson Preserve. The blooming plants and grasses in the foreground are a foreshadowing of the future for the Rieke Preserve. The new gravel parking area is on the right, easily accessed from County Line Road. This currently allows the contractors to access the property regardless of the weather conditions. Ultimately, it will also provide parking for visitors to enjoy this textbook example of a prairie restoration.
As David Stout notes, "In the long term, I see this preserve and the Pederson Preserve forming a larger complex of wetland, prairie and riparian habitats, as well as creating additional opportunities for restoration along the Flint Creek corridor."
Todd and Libby Rieke describe the future native prairie showpiece that they are building towards, "Our goal is to provide parking for both the Pederson Preserve and The Rieke Family Preserve, and are planning on using a bridge to cross Flint Creek to help us restore the two properties.
"We will be putting a walkway around the property that will have signage relating to the history of Barrington with some benches for relaxing, bird watching, and taking in the sights and sounds of the area."
Above, mulch has been installed over a layer of weed suppressing fabric to define the scenic walking path. Next in the schedule was laying down the seed and covering it with the protective straw blanket seen rolled up in the inset photo below.
Approximately 3 acres will be seeded with native tallgrass prairie.
The stretch of land right along County Line Road will be receiving a carefully curated selection of colorful blooming plants that will provide a cascading array of technicolor spring, summer and fall!
Some of the Rieke Preserve Native Plants
Bebb's Oval Sedge
Big Bluestem
Black-Eyed Susan
Blue Joint Grass
Blue Vervain
Boneset
Brown Fox Sedge
Brown-Eyed Susan
Butterfly Weed
Calico Aster
Canada Milk Vetch
Canada Tick Trefoil
Canada Wild Rye
Common Milkweed
Compass Plant
Copper-Shouldered Oval Sedge
Crawford's Sedge
Culver's Root
Cup Plant
Dark-Green Bulrush
Early Sunflower
Foxglove Beard Tongue
Fringed Brome
Fringed Sedge
Golden Alexanders
Grass-Leaved Goldenrod
Great St. John's Wort
Heath Aster
Indian Grass
Ironweed
Lance-Fruited Oval Sedge
Leadplant
Little Bluestem
Marsh (Red) Milkweed
Marsh Blazing Star
Monkey Flower
Mountain Mint
New England Aster
Nodding Onion
Ohio Goldenrod
Ohio Spiderwort
Pale Purple Coneflower
Partridge Pea
Path Rush
Prairie Blazing Star
Prairie Cinquefoil
Prairie Cordgrass
Prairie Coreopsis
Prairie Dock
Prairie Phlox
Prairie Violet
Prairie Wild Rose
Purple Coneflower
Purple Prairie CloverRattlesnake Master
Red Bulrush
Riddell's Goldenrod
Rosin Weed
Royal Catchfly
Rush Switchgrass
Sawtooth Sunflower
Showy Goldenrod
Side Oats Grama
Sky Blue Aster
Smooth Blue Aster
Sneezeweed
Spotted Joe Pye Weed
Stiff Goldenrod
Swamp Aster
Sweet Black-Eyed Susan
Switchgrass
Tall Coreopsis
Virginia Wild Rye
White Prairie Clover
White Wild Indigo
Wild Bergamot
Wild Quinine
Wild SennaWool Grass
Yellow Coneflower
Some of the County Line Road Frontage Plants
Keep your eyes on this property
as it transforms in spring 2023
into a young, vigorous native ecosystem.
In just 3-5 years,
it will be a mature player in the landscape of the
Barrington Area Conservation Trust's
open space stewardship!
Have you listened to BACT's podcast yet? Visit our website Library!
Our most recent episode: "Let's Get Our Feet Wet". A focus on our local watershed and how that is impacted through our conservation efforts. Guest speakers BACOG and the Flint Creek/Spring Creek Watershed Partnership. Next episode coming soon: "Finding our Way in the Forest"
These podcasts and videos are made possible through funding by the Barrington Area Community Foundation.
