Ecologists thought it had been lost forever.
But just one year into the Cook County Forest Preserves 2015 Natural and Cultural Resources Master Plan, the tiny twayblade orchid reemerged at Cranberry Slough in the Palos Preserves.
“We thought it was extricated from this site,” said Kristin Pink, resource ecologist for the forest preserves. “But the very first season after brush removal we found it again.”
The tiny ground-dwelling native plant with purple flowers was just waiting in the soil for someone to clear away dense invasive species so that sunlight could reach it, she said.
The ongoing work at Cranberry Slough, so named because it is home to a bog that once bore the large cranberry plant, has all the makings of a classic good versus evil tale, with the battle being waged before the eyes of casual observers.
It is the story of a land once flourishing with native plants and animals that over decades of neglect became overrun by invaders. Seeds from plants such as the bush honeysuckle, brought over from western Asia and embraced by Chicago area homeowners because of its beautiful flowers and scent, were transported by birds to the forest areas.
Though lovely, Pink said, the bush does not belong in Northern Illinois and its presence is having a harmful affect on everything from plant life to bird health to forest aesthetics. Like other invasive plants, the honeysuckle is more aggressive and quickly expands its reach, snuffing out native flora.
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On a recent rainy Tuesday morning, Pink, who grew up on the Palos Preserves border in Willow Springs and graduated from Argo High School and the University of Illinois, took me and a photographer on a 2.3 mile tour of the Cranberry Slough area.
As we traversed the multi-use Country Lane Road, partly in truck, partly on foot, we could easily point out the areas where restoration work has already been done.
On one side of the trail the woods were dark, dense and overgrown with non-native plants; on the other, rain and sunlight made its way to the ground, nourishing native jewelweed and buttonbush along the way.
The restored area, Pink said, is healthier for plants and animals, better for water quality and more inviting to the hikers and horseback riders who use the trail.
The 12,000-acre Palos region is top priority in the forest preserves’ master plan, Pink said. And Cranberry Slough, home to the only bog in Cook County, is a top priority among that, she said. Other areas targeted for ecological restoration are Sand Ridge in South Holland, Jurgensen Woods in Lansing, Busse Woods in Elk Grove Village and Deer Grove in Palatine.
Located west of LaGrange Road on 95th Street, Cranberry Slough sits in a northeast section of the Palos region, which is the largest tract of forest preserves and most contiguous natural area in the county, Pink said.
The slough is “big and mostly a remnant natural area — an ecological community that’s mostly intact,” she said.
A remnant area is one that is near to its native roots, she explained. The soil has never been turned for farming; the tree canopy is largely intact; there’s been relatively little degradation, she said.
“The plants and animals that live here have essentially lived here for thousands of years,” Pink said. The area represents “a direct line all the way back to the glaciers” some 12,000 years ago.
In the three years since the county began work to remove invasive species there, Pink said, 220 acres of the 570 acre site has been cleared, mostly with grinding machinery and prescribed burns, which rids the area of leaf litter and stimulates the native system of plants.
And the difference has been significant, she said.
Already, more native plants are flourishing and that, in turn, bodes well for the wildlife, she said. Officials hope the change will benefit the federally threatened northern long-eared bat that has been spotted there, as well as two woodpeckers, the red-headed and the pilliated, both of which are rarely seen across other parts of the county but appear frequently near Cranberry Slough, she said.
Indeed, during a two-hour tour, a red-headed woodpecker was spied flitting among the trees. Near Crooked Creek, a pair of hummingbirds chased each other among the jewelweed. And the calls of many different birds were heard, including the Eastern Wood-Peewee, named for its song.
So far the forest preserves has invested $460,000 of the $800,000 it expects to spend, said spokesperson Stacina Stagner, with work being done by forest preserve employees as well as contractors.
“We still have a lot to do,” Pink said, “but we’re moving at a brisk pace.”
In November, prescribed burning once again will get underway.
“Sometimes when people hear ‘fire’ they might think of wildfires in California. It’s much different here,’ she said.
The intentionally set fires that the forest preserves conducts are low intensity, designed to burn off debris, she said.
“When you remove leaf litter, in the springtime that black soil left behind will heat up faster and you’ll have plants greening up quicker. You’re also going to have more flowers on the plants. The plants become more productive. And that means more food for the entire system. So you’ll have more insects. It’s quite a remarkable tool,” she said.
Cranberry Slough also is home to several wetlands, which benefit as well when invasive species are removed, she said. The fishless ponds are home to frogs and salamanders that head upland to forage. If the land around a wetland is covered with non-native shrubs, she said, the amphibians can’t find enough food.
“It’s a complex system, all intertwined,” she said.
Because the area has the ability to return to its native state, it was given top priority, Pink said.
Cook County is among the most ecologically diverse areas in the country, Pink said. Everything that is living at Cranberry Slough, she added, is “the zenith of genetic and biotic diversity. That just cannot be replaced. It cannot be planted. We just don’t understand enough. We must focus on (restoring) remnants.
“Cranberry Slough is mostly a remnant. It just needs a little bit of help,” she said. “That’s why we’re focusing here and are expanding outward to restore 12,000 acres in the Palos area.
“It’s an ambitious project,” she added, “but we are making great progress.”
The work of returning the area to its bright, sunlight dappled native state will be bolstered by sustained land management, aimed at keeping the area as it was meant to be, she said. Because of this work, other rare native plant species, including the Michigan lily, Indian tobacco and fire pink, are returning to the landscape.
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All of them, including the purple twayblade, she added, are harbingers of even better things to come.
