10 / OutdoorIllinois May 2010

Story By Jeanne Townsend HandyPhotos By Tom Handy

If suddenly dropped into themidst of many of the sites thatVern LaGesse strives to protect,it would be easy to becomedisoriented, to believe that you

had landed somewhere other than inIllinois. Such disorientation would ariseprecisely because these sites are unlikemost Illinois landscapes or, morespecifically, the Illinois landscapeswe know today.

Following behind LaGesse as heclambered up the windswept slopes ofthe Revis Hill Prairie, I tried to definethe role of the man who is the founderand president of the volunteer groupknown as the Friends of the SangamonValley. Ecosystem manager? Natural his-torian? Liaison between the landscapesof our past and those of our future?Although he asserts that he is not a

“tree-hugger” or anti-development, with-out a doubt LaGesse and his organizationbelieve that the extinction of already-rare habitats and species would leave Illi-nois bereft of a crucial part of its history.And in a state that has lost the over-

whelming majority of its original land-scape, there is little natural history left tobehold. Yet efforts to characterize “TheFriends” or to pin down the role of itsfounder are, for the most part, futile.Once referred to as a “rag-tag gang

of about a dozen nature lovers,” TheFriends now number 215, volunteers

Friends Indeed

Vern LaGesse and the Friends of theSangamon Valley work to retain thehabitats and history of central Illinois.

Vern LaGesse, the first two-time

winner of the Springfield State Jour-

nal-Register’s “Prairie and People”

conservation award, during exotic

honeysuckle eradication at the Wolf

Preserve in Menard County.

May 2010 OutdoorIllinois / 11

all, and places such as WashingtonPark, the South Fork Nature Reserve,Carpenter Park, the Knuppel WildlifeSanctuary, Carver Yocum HomesteadPark as well as the Revis Hill Prairiehave benefited from their dedication.But there is no encapsulating thegroup’s shape and scope as it shifts andmoves, independent yet weaving intoand out of other organizations. Theyhave provided support for and part-nered with government agencies, parkdistricts, universities, landowners andbird societies. Collaboration and symbi-otic relationships are as fundamental tothe Friends of the Sangamon Valley asthey are for the ecologically significantlands they hope to protect.At Revis, rising high above the Sang-

amon River bottomland, collaborations

and symbioses were readily in evi-dence. This rare Mason County hillprairie was brought into tenuous exis-tence by geography, topography, andlocalized exposure to sun and wind. Itwas created when the last glacierretreated, dropping a load of fine siltthat would later be dried in periods ofdrought and blown onto adjacentuplands. Nearby prairie species movedin to occupy the bluffs, and the steep-ness of its slopes allowed it to remain,for now, what has been called one ofthe “last living windows into presettle-ment Illinois ecology.”Because of the site’s significance, it is

owned by Department of NaturalResources, which is assisted by LaGesseand his group in its maintenance andprotection. On this day, members of The

Friends had come to Revis to conduct asurvey of the prairie dandelion, a state-listed endangered species that is knownto occur in only six other locations inIllinois. LaGesse explained that monitor-ing endangered species—that, at Revis,also include the regal fritillary butterfly,the ottoe skipper butterfly and the bent-leafed milk vetch, among others—helpsthe group determine the areas in whichtheir work is most crucial.Arriving atop a hill with spectacular

views and buffeting wind, LaGessepaused as if standing upon the ultimatepodium to regale us with the story ofRevis. After first pointing out a turkeyvulture soaring below us, he directedour attention to the Bloomingtonmoraine that had been left behind bythe glacier, and he talked of the loess“which is finer than sand—like talcum,”which can be found in deposits that aremore than 200 feet deep in some areas.Moving to Revis’s more recent history,he pointed out the remnants of historicwagon ruts, still evident in the loess.

Several of the oaks of the Wolf

Preserve have been in existence for

hundreds of years. Brush removal

and controlled burns at the Wolf

Preserve are allowing species diver-

sity and natural function to return.

“These box canyons were used inthe early cattle drives to overnight cat-tle on their way into or out of Spring-field,” he explained.As he continued his tale, it became

obvious that LaGesse finds no discon-nect between human and natural histo-ry. Natural history has dictated much ofwhere and how our society has settledand grown—and now we may dictatewhether some of the features thataccompanied our past will accompanyour future as well. Without the type ofintervention that the Friends of theSangamon Valley supply at Revis to haltthe invasion of woody species, this rarehabitat will likely disappear.“Revis is one of the biggest and best

examples of loess hill prairie in thestate, and we’re losing it,” statedLaGesse. “We have lost 80 percent ofthis historic prairie in the past 70years.” And he worries that volunteersalone cannot maintain the entire 410-

acre site. Yet they see this as no excusefor giving up.In fact, the excuses often underlying

habitat loss have never sat well withLaGesse. Following the loss of a smallbut significant parcel of old-growth tim-ber within Springfield’s city limits,LaGesse decided that it should “neveragain” be possible for government offi-cials and developers to use the excusethat “We didn’t know.” He embarked ona three-year project to map every inchof forest, prairie and wetland in Sanga-mon County. Completed in 2004, theproject resulted in the most comprehen-sive inventory of natural areas ever com-piled in central Illinois. It was LaGesse’shope that greater knowledge wouldlead to better choices and creative solu-tions. And when consultation ofLaGesse’s maps resulted in relocation ofSpringfield’s power plant to a site thatwas just as suitable but less ecologicallysignificant, this hope was realized.“Bow saw or loppers?” LaGesse

asked, reaching into the back of a pick-up truck to extract our tool of choice.Several of The Friends had gathered atthe Wolf Preserve in Menard County toclear exotic honeysuckle, a restorativemeasure from the group’s bag of tricks

that includes the most important tool—the reintroduction of fire.“Fires helped create our natural

communities,” claimed LaGesse.The Wolf Preserve is a 68-acre old

growth woodland donated to theFriends of the Sangamon Valley in 2005.In an effort to return it to its historicalstate as a savanna setting of open oakwoodlands with a mix of trees and wild-flowers, they first conducted surveys tocreate a list of understory and treespecies and, through core extraction,they determined the ages of large trees.Restoration efforts have since includedbrush removal, controlled burns, andthe planting of 9 acres of hardwoodtrees along with 8 acres of prairie inwhat had once been a farm field.With a running commentary and

infectious laughter, LaGesse eased thearduous chore of trudging throughdense brush across uneven terrain tolocate and eliminate the understory’snemesis, the exotic honeysuckle. Likethe curator of a living museum or theproud architect of an organic tour deforce, he continually drew our attentionto the site’s most advantageous featuressuch as the oaks and the waterfalls.Here his history lesson included NativeAmericans of the late Woodland era, thegrazing of cattle, 15 year-old signs oflogging, and an historic fire scar.

12 / OutdoorIllinois May 2010

The Friends of the Sangamon Valley

are endeavoring to return Wolf

Preserve to its historical state as a

savanna setting.

An historic fire scar helps convey the

history of the Wolf Preserve.

Again, it became obvious thatLaGesse realizes human history is amere footnote in the grand story toldby the land he helps to protect. Andhere, at Wolf Preserve, some of the par-ticipants in this grand story remain.LaGesse brought our attention towhite oaks of amazing ages—278 yearsold, 400 years old, 171 years old. Andpointing to a 310-year-old white oakpossessing a massive horizontal limbwithin easy reach he stated, “There’smy park bench.”Although in 2009 the Friends of the

Sangamon Valley celebrated their firstpurchase, a 50-acre combination of rare,high-quality sand and mesic upland for-est in Cass County, called Boyle Woods,not all sites where The Friends can befound working are of the highest quali-ty. LaGesse admits that at the AdamsWildlife Sanctuary, a 40-acre preservewhere they are now assisting the Illinois

Audubon Society with restorationefforts, one can find “every exoticspecies you could imagine.”But given the location of this site on

Springfield’s east side, LaGesse seesgreater opportunity for the communityto become involved and inspired. Formany people outdoors means danger,”he stated. “No one has brought themout and given them a good experience

Springfield writer Jeanne TownsendHandy holds an M.A. in EnvironmentalStudies and has been accepted into theSociety of Environmental Journalists.Tom Handy is a Web specialist for

the Southern Illinois University School ofMedicine. He spends his free time as afreelance photographer and musician.

May 2010 OutdoorIllinois / 13

Rising high above the Sangamon

River bottomland, Revis Hill Prairie

is a rare Illinois landscape.

LaGesse leads a tour at the Wolf

Preserve as part of the Friends of

the Sangamon Valley’s ongoing

community outreach.

outdoors. And if no one enjoys this, wewon’t be able to save anything.”And who inspired LaGesse? Was it

John Muir? Aldo Leopold? As it turns out,LaGesse’s inspiration came locally—from retired DNR biologist, Bill McClain.He inspired me to go into conserva-

tion,” claimed LaGesse. “It is so impor-tant to have someone help you learn.He is one of the few people who tookme under his wing and gave me anopportunity, even though I had no aca-demic background. To me, the wholenative/non-native thing was mind-bog-gling. I didn’t know plants—that wasmy biggest challenge.”And now, for Vern LaGesse and the

Friends of the Sangamon Valley, the great-est challenge may be to provide such edu-cation and opportunity for others.Stated LaGesse, “We have to inspire

the next generation of people.”