The Stewardship
VOLUNTEER VIEW A quarterly newsletter to keep Forest Preserve District of Kane County natural areas volunteers informed.
SUMMER 2026 EDITION
Rachel Carlson, Editor
Training & Events
Arrowwood Point Archery Complex
1st Aid/CPR/AED & B-Con Date: November 10th Time: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Place: District HQ Please register for First Aid sessions through Volgistics.
Seed Team Harvest Date: Wednesdays Time: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Place: A different preserve each week! Follow us on FB or email the Stewardship Specialist to receive updates on where we’re headed next!
Jason Johnson, Copy Editor
Written by: Paul Beck
It’s not every day you get the chance to name a facility at a Forest Preserve, so when a competition was announced for the new archery complex at Mill Creek Greenway, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. After considering a few possibilities — Beck’s Range, Paul’s Place, — I ultimately settled on Arrowwood Point. The name was perfection. Viburnum dentatum, or arrowwood, is a native shrub once used by Indigenous people to make arrow shafts due to its straight, strong, and flexible stems; and point can refer both to a gathering place and the tip of an arrow.
With the submissions narrowed down to five, the online polls opened. I couldn't help but notice that Arrowwood Point was listed at the top of the ballot - surely a good omen. After casting my vote, and threatening family members to do likewise, all that was left to do was wait. As it turned out, there was no need to worry. Arrowwood Point quickly took a strong lead and held it, ultimately earning 44% of the votes cast. Victory!! But do I gloat and bask in the glory of said victory? Certainly not. Do I remind my wife about it every day? Absolutely.
@FPDvolunteers
In this Issue... •
Arrowwood Point Complex
•
Plug Planting Kick-off
•
Apprentice Steward at Bliss
•
StoryWalk at Tekakwitha
•
NRM Updates
•
Photo Features Oakhurst Steward Paul Beck (center) joins District officials for the ceremonial ribbon cutting.
www.kaneforest.com/volunteer | CarlsonRachel@kaneforest.com | (630) 200-
Page 2
Stewardship Volunteer View
Lake Run Kicks off “Plug Planting Pop-ups” By: Rachel Carlson What was initially a seed order mix-up has turned into quite the series of events—thousands of native plugs were purchased by the natural resources de-
partment and distributed to preserves for installation by volunteers. Lake Run, Big Rock, and Hannaford were all chosen as designated areas for these plantings to help improve both the biodiversity and aesthetics of entrance areas dominated by grass and brome. Kicking off this string of events on June 9th, 25 volunteers teamed up to plant 1,200 plugs at Lake Run Forest Preserve. Site Steward, Jeff Hedrich, had just logged 5,000 combined hours of volunteer service at the preserve, making for quite the celebration. While Lake Run was our largest “popup” this summer, armed with “dibbles”, augers, and trowels, our stewardship crew at Big Rock has also helped us transform a vacant stretch of Kentucky blue grass (yawn) into a baby bowl prairie! The NRM team has supplemented with a mix of native grass seeds to help fill in the gaps, prevent unwanted vegetation from taking over, and provide some shade to the slower growing plants. We look forward to see-
ing how this planting matures over the Steward Brian Griffin (far right) helps put in the final plugs at Big Rock
course of the next few years.
Photo by Rachel Carlson
Thank you to everyone who has pitched in to make these plantings a success!
Page 3
Stewardship Volunteer View
In the Works: Apprentice Steward at Bliss Woods By: Rachel Carlson While Bliss Woods already has a legendary steward servicing our natural areas at the preserve, we now have a new apprentice steward who will be focusing his work along the Virgil Gilman trail and
Blackberry Creek. Rodney Schmahl, neighbor of Bliss and reoccurring District volunteer, will be working with Mary Ochsenslager and District staff to take his service to the next level. Keep your eyes peeled for future updates on some new restoration opportunities at the preserve in the coming months!
New “Story Walk” at Tekakwitha For the past 5 years, St. Charles Public Library has partnered with the District to offer a “Story Walk” at LeRoy Oakes. Each month, a new children’s book is copied and laminated page by page and transferred to stakes along the preserve trail for families to read. Due to the success of this program, the library has now expanded to include a new Story Walk trail at Tekakwitha Woods along the limestone path that parallels the Fox River Trail. Tekakwitha co-steward, Valerie Blaine, noticed that some of the newly installed book stakes were getting crowded out by honeysuckle and poison ivy, so she led her pack of volunteers to help with visibility. Thanks to them, young readers won’t have to worry about dodging hazards to get to the next page! Small—but noticeable—community partnerships like this are a reminder that intersectionality in the outdoors is essential!
Page 4
Stewardship Volunteer View
The Power-Tool Arsenal Expands The NRM department has added a second electric chainsaw to outfit our growing team of trained sawyers. These cordless saws have proven to be a fan favorite amongst volunteers not only because they are quiet, but they are much easier to start up, all with the added benefit of zero emissions!
Special thanks to Jeff Hedrich whose generous donation helped fund this purchase!
Harvests Aren’t Just for “Seed Team”! In addition to regular Seed Team harvests, some sites with active stewardship have enough seed available to collect for District-wide use. The Dick Young (North) crew was able to snatch up 27.6 pounds of Echinacea pallida seed heads for processing this fall at the NRM shop. It’s estimated that one pound of coneflower heads equates to roughly 90,000 seeds — a mighty fine haul!
Stay tuned for more details later this year regarding new service opportunities to help process seeds.
NATURAL RESOURCES! Graminoid expert Paul Marcum recommends “Sedges: Carex (The Illustrated Flora of Illinois)” by Robert Mohlenbrock. While we have more sedges in Illinois than are included in the genus Carex, it is the largest and most species-rich genus in the Cyperaceae plant family. Sedges can be difficult to ID, especially in their vegetative state, so guides like this are incredibly helpful in differentiating species. Have a graminoid ID question? You can join the Midwest Graminoids FB group that Paul admins here: Midwest Graminoids - Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes, Oh my!
Page 5
Stewardship Volunteer View
PHOTO FEATURES: Gifts of the Growing Season
A common yellowthroat spotted at Dick Young FP
Bob admires the blooming shelf prairie at Fabyan.
Photo by Maureen Mrenna
Photo by Jon Cooper
A fox snake travels past a mowed trail at Johnson’s Mound Forest Preserve.
Eric holds a bouquet of wood betony during a seed harvest at Dick Young. Photo by Terri Hoehne
Ohio spiderwort & friend at Lone Grove
Photo by Greg Knipp.
Treefrog at LeRoy
Photo by Rachel Carlson
Photo from Jason Johnson
SUMMER 2025 EDITION
Page 6
Forest Preserve District of Kane County Volunteer Services Division 1996 S. Kirk Road, Suite 320 Geneva, IL 60134