Bumblebees and butterflies are in trouble. They’re
declining in part because there are fewer places where they can find food and
shelter. There is widespread concern about what this will mean for the health
of local ecosystems and crops like tomatoes that rely on native bees for
pollination. The members of the DuPage Monarch Project are stepping up to protect
the pollinators we all depend on.
This year DuPage Monarch Project recognized
five pollinator conservation champions for their outstanding contributions to
making DuPage County a safe haven for bees and butterflies.
Sugar Creek Golf Course Goes Green
Elmhurst Park District and the Village of
Villa Park are the co-owners and managers of the Sugar Creek Golf Course. They
also share a vision for how the course can offer an enjoyable round of golf and
provide valuable ecological services for their communities. The Sugar Creek
Golf Course Restoration Project made that vision a reality.
The SCGC Project was years in the making. It
relied on the support and participation of the Elmhurst Park District, Village
of Villa Park, Sugar Creek Golf Course, DuPage County, and the Illinois EPA.
DuPage County Stormwater Management played a pivotal role in getting the
project off the ground when it recognized that restoring the section of Sugar
Creek that meanders through the course would provide natural flood control and
improve the water quality of both Sugar and Salt Creek.
Along with dam removal and shoreline
stabilization, the final plan included removing invasive species and adding new
naturalized areas. Pollinator habitat was established with 18,000 plugs, 46
native trees, and 139 native shrubs, and by seeding 2.5 acres with native
species.
There is growing pressure to find land that can
be naturalized for pollinators. The Sugar Creek Golf Course Restoration Project
has demonstrated that the managed greens of a golf course can co-exist with
healthy, biodiverse natural areas.
Elmhurst Park District, Village of Villa Park,
and Sugar Creek Golf Course received the Jane Foulser Habitat Award for the
Sugar Creek Golf Course Restoration Project.
Science, Education, and Fun on the Russell
Kirt Prairie
Illinois was once covered with prairies filled
with tall grasses and colorful flowers. The grand expanses of prairie are now gone.
It is the small remnants of the original prairies and recent restorations that
many birds, bees and butterflies rely on for their food and shelter. These are
also the places where people can enjoy and connect with nature.
Anna Bakker is making the Russell Kirt Prairie
at the College of DuPage an inviting place for young and old to experience the
native Illinois landscape. In the 18 months since Ms. Bakker was hired to
manage the College of DuPage’s natural areas, she has instituted a wide range
of educational, volunteer, scientific, and community science opportunities for
COD students, staff and the general public. There are classes to take and
events to attend. Visitors can become community scientists by adding their
observations of monarchs to the annual butterfly count. Volunteers have hands-on
encounters with native plant communities while planting and collecting seeds. There’s
even a tea party on the prairie. Guests enjoy a cup of tea while listening to stories
of how indigenous people and pioneers used prairie plants for food and
medicine.
Ms. Bakker makes it easy to stay up to date
about what’s happening at COD’s natural areas with a monthly newsletter and
frequent Facebook posts.
Anna Bakker received the Pat Miller Community
Engagement Award for offering diverse, creative, and educational outreach about
native plants, monarch butterflies, and pollinators.
Passion-Fueled Activism Adds Habitat for
Pollinators
Mary Onorad isn’t shy about making the most of
every chance to help pollinators. In the four short years since learning about
the dramatic decline of monarch butterflies, she has gone from planting
milkweed in her backyard to launching several pollinator-friendly gardens.
Ms. Onorad had a long history of volunteering
with the Woodridge Rotary Club when she learned about Rotary International’s partnership
with Operation Pollination. Operation Pollination is a collaborative framework for
increasing, enhancing, and maintaining pollinator habitat. It was a good fit
with her organizing and networking skills. She just needed the right
opportunity to get started.
A project turned up when Ms. Onorad heard about
a newly seeded bioswale at the 83rd Street Park in Woodridge that could
use a helping hand. Progress on the bioswale had stalled when park district
staff were redirected to cleaning up the damage from a tornado that swept
through Woodridge in June 2021.
The bioswale needed two things, more plants
and additional species. Adding plants would crowd out weeds, increase
biodiversity, and improve appeal. Ms. Onorad collaborated with Bruce Blake, a
habitat specialist with the DuPage Monarch Project, on developing a plant list
and overseeing plant installation. She applied for and
received a grant from Illinois American Water that covered the cost of the
plants and an interpretative sign.
Ms. Onorad barely paused after completing the
bioswale before turning her attention to the monarch butterfly’s winter habitat
in Mexico. Rotary International was one of the many sponsors of the 60,000
Tree Challenge, an educational and fundraising effort for purchasing trees for
the monarch sanctuary in El Rosario, Mexico. As part of the Challenge, a
boxcar emblazoned with a monarch butterfly was traveling from Canada to Mexico with
a stop scheduled in Bensenville. She took it upon herself to notify local Rotarians
about the Challenge and the event hosted by the Elmhurst Park District
at the Bensenville rail yard, where there were presentations about monarch
butterflies and Operation Pollination’s approach to habitat restoration.
