Transcript Chicago Wilderness: An Ecosystem Management Plan

Chicago Wilderness:
An Ecosystem
Management Plan
Katy Berlin
Shelly Charron
Lisa DuRussel
NRE 317
April 11, 2001
Introduction
• 200,000 acres preserved
• Covers southeastern Wisconsin, 6
counties in the Chicago region, and
northwestern Indiana
• Ecosystems include woodlands, forest,
prairie, streams, and wetlands
• 124 public and private organizations
involved
Protected Land in the Chicago Wilderness Region
Why Is Ecological Management of
the Chicago Region Important?
• High concentration of globally
significant natural communities
– Contains almost 200 endangered or
threatened species
– Contains rare tallgrass prairies and
open oak woodlands
Major Threats to the Chicago
Area
• Habitat fragmentation
and loss
• Exotic species
• Fire suppression
Goals of the Plan
• To restore natural
communities
• Promote sustainable
development
• Increase citizen involvement
• Prevent the ongoing loss of
critical habitat
Ecological Management, Research,
and Monitoring Plan Objectives
• Continuing research and monitoring is important to
improve management techniques
• Ongoing adaptive management is essential for all of
the natural communities
• Ecological management of the region’s natural
communities must increase substantially
• Management plans developed for each site using
management practices adapted to site conditions and
appropriate to the goals of the site
• Inform the public of what can be expected, and where
possible, use practices that include both short term
and long term results
Land Management Practices
• Prescribed burning
• Restoration and
management of hydrology
• Re-establishment of native
species
• Control of invasive plant
species
• Management of problem
wildlife
• Management plans
Examples of the Plan in Action
• Private business owners agree to landscape
with native plants
• During bird migration periods, most
downtown businesses turn their lights off
• Public highway authorities control salt use
and retain storm water
• Large and small scale burning of public lands
to control invasive plant species
Key Players in the Plan
• Government agencies
– local, state, and
intergovernmental organizations
• Private sector
– NGO’s, business, industry,
farmland owners, and private
land owners
• Volunteers
Plan Evaluation: The Chicago
Wilderness Report Card
Instructor: Grumbine
Subject:
Hierarchical Context
Ecological Boundaries
Ecological Integrity
Data Collection
Monitoring
Adaptive Management
Inter-agency cooperation
Humans embedded in nature
Values as determinants of Behavior
Term: Winter 2001
Grade:
Hierarchical Context
• Integrates both local
and regional planning
• Plan is used at both the
ecosystem and
landscape level
• Concern for genetic
variability and
population size
B
Ecological Boundaries
• Works across political boundaries by
incorporating portions of Wisconsin
and Indiana
• Key players include:
– Federal and Local Governmental
Agencies
– Private Sectors
B-
Ecological Integrity
• Conservation of viable
populations of native species
– Invasive species control
• Maintaining natural disturbance
regimes
– Prescribed burns
• Reintroduction of native species
– Native seed bank
A
Data Collection
• Ecological inventory used to establish a baseline in
which to measure change over time
C
Monitoring
• A central focus of the plan
• Monitoring methods:
– Choose indicators
– Set thresholds
– Design sampling protocols
A-
• Use a region-wide monitoring program to
detect change at three levels:
– Landscape
– Natural and human communities
– Species
• Used to evaluate and improve management
techniques
Adaptive Management
• Another central focus of the plan
• Conservation design is site-based from a single
natural area to an entire region
• Includes a flexible 100 year plan
A
Interagency Cooperation
• 124 public and private organizations involved
• Education across political boundaries
B+
Humans Embedded in Nature
• Objectives of the plan include citizen involvement and
sustainable development
• Organizations provide educational programs and
nature walks free of charge
• Volunteer stewardship days held at over 200 sites
A-
Values As Determinants of
Behavior
• Plan identifies human values
and threats to these values
through a series of questions:
– What do we want to protect and
enhance within this site?
– What do we want these targets to
look like in x years?
– What could prevent us from
achieving this vision of our
targets?
B-
Final Report Card
Instructor: Grumbine
Subject:
Hierarchical Context
Ecological Boundaries
Ecological Integrity
Data Collection
Monitoring
Adaptive Management
Inter-agency cooperation
Humans embedded in nature
Values as determinants of Behavior
Term: Winter 2001
Grade:
B
BA
C
AA
B+
AB-
Chicago Wilderness GPA: 3.23
“The Chicago
Wilderness
Management
Plan is
Grrrrrreat!”
Mayor Richard M. Daley
Information Taken from:
http://www.chicagowilderness.org