Severson Dells

This article appeared Sunday, Dec. 17, 2006, in the Opinion section of the Rockford Register Star.

By Brian Leaf
Special to the Register Star

One of the goals of Severson Dells Nature Center is to help people develop a sense of place, to know about where they live, to have a connection to this region.

Many people think that to experience nature they have to travel to Wisconsin, a national park or a rainforest. Some place exotic.

A couple of years ago I was speaking with a teacher from Spectrum School, Sally Wonder. Mrs. Wonder. Could there be a better name for a teacher? She’s been bringing classes to the nature center for many years and knows the value of outdoor education.

Mrs. Wonder told me about a 7-year-old student. He’d just returned from a family trip to California, and while there, he walked among the redwoods in Muir Woods, a national monument near San Francisco. It’s one of the most revered forests on Earth. Imagine for a moment a 7-year-old walking through these strange, beautiful, humungous trees like an ant among giants. Mrs. Wonder asked him whether Muir Woods was nice. He responded, “Yes, almost as nice as Severson Dells.”

It made me chuckle, but it makes perfect sense. This child didn’t have to travel 2,000 miles to experience natural beauty. He found it here, under his nose, in Winnebago County, a place many of us fail to look. He’s connected.

And when this kid grows up, I hope he lives here and runs for mayor. I hope he is still as attached to what we have here as he was as a second-grader. We need people like him who don’t see all property as 40 acres zoned for ag or commercial or residential. We need people who see land that should be zoned for birds or deer or frogs, where people can reconnect with nature, to get outside and explore.

Don’t get me wrong. Growth is important. It is part of what makes a healthy economy.

But it’s not the only measure of a healthy community’s quality of life. Quality of life means different things to people. Great health care, low crime, proximity to a Gap store.

But great places to live also have nature.

This region has been a doormat for Money Magazine’s annual places to live survey.

Over the years it’s said that crime is too high, job creation too slow, we’re not close to mountains and ski resorts, we don’t have beaches or an ocean. We can take measures to fight crime and create jobs.

And although we can’t move mountains or create an ocean, we are in a position to make this community more like top places in the 2006 Money survey — places that had “big city opportunities and amenities with a lot more green space and a lot less stress.”

We have 3,000 kindergarten to sixth-grade students who visit Severson Dells each year. Most come from cities, not near the woods where there are “lions and tigers and bears.” They’ve never walked in a forest, hiked through a prairie or sloshed in a stream. It’s crazy, but this natural world is far scarier than the asphalt world where they live.

By the time a child who visits our center has hiked for an hour, gone on a scavenger hunt for fungus, feathers and lichens, the change is complete.

Fear has melted into a smile, and because the child had a chance to experience nature here, there’s a great chance they’ll go home and look for nature in their yard, trees or vacant lot.

We live in a fearful world. We no longer turn in to the weather forecast. We tune into the “storm team.” Terrorists are gunning for us. Bird flu is going to kill us if West Nile virus doesn’t get us first. There’s Stranger Danger, pedophiles, robbers, gangs. Some days it seems a lot easier to stay inside.

That’s what I truly fear. There’s a disconnect with nature. Kids don’t get outside to play and explore.

And we’ve lost our vacant lots. There is less green space in the urban areas, where eight of 10 Americans live.

And although kidnapping statistically is less common than it was a generation ago, people fear it more because such incidents have become so highly publicized that the perception is it’s dangerous to let your kids play outside.

Severson Dells finds itself as the last strong player standing in nature education in our area. And we’re planning to remain standing and to fill the gap.

Let me share some of our dreams.

We would like to partner with area schools in programs rooted in hands-on nature experiences.

We want to increase nature programming at the Pecatonica River Forest Preserve (the nature center there closed last year) and other county sites.

We would like to begin a preschool next fall that focuses on the lost art of unstructured play in the outdoors.

We would hope to offer scholarships to the economically challenged families in our communities, so no child is left without a nature experience.

Severson Dells is building its endowment to solidify our future so that we can provide these valuable services to the next generation and the one after that.

We’re teaching vital lessons to students whose schools can no longer deliver in the era of No Child Left Behind. We must ensure that nature isn’t left behind, either.

Brian Leaf is executive development director at Severson Dells Nature Center. This is excerpted from a speech he gave Friday to Rockford Masonic Hi-12 at the Stockholm Inn.

Charles Darwin told us that in nature, the strong survive and the weak perish. Darwin is long gone, but his theory lives on.

Check out Geri Nikolai’s story in the Rockford Register Star “You’re not nuts, they’re black squirrels.”

Black squirrels (great name for a band, in my opinion) have been showing up frequently in the Rock River Valley, according the paper, which informally polled 250 News Tower employees. The story said:

“We got about 20 responses, with sightings from near downtown to South Beloit. Good places to spot them, we were told, are Shorewood Park in Loves Park; the Pepper Drive/Mulford Road area; and Harlem Road in the Perryville/McFarland region. One man said he’s seen them around for at least five years.”

Experts says aside from color, black squirrels are the same as gray squirrels. But their origin, in some regions anyway, may be alien.

In Washington, D.C., researchers have traced the region’s population of squirrels to 18 Canadian black squirrels that were released more than 100 years ago (“An Exotic Evolution: Black Squirrels Imported in Early 1900s Gain Foothold,” Washington Post).

The Post says:

“Scientists say it’s a real-life example of natural selection at work, which has rolled on for a century here without much public notice.

“It shows the spread of a gene within a population,” said Richard W. Thorington Jr., a Smithsonian Institution researcher working on a book that includes a history of the District’s black squirrels. “That is evolutionary change before your eyes.”

And further:

Here’s why some scientists believe the black squirrels were multiplying: In winter, their dark coats allowed them to retain heat from sunlight, leaving them less desperate for warmth than their lighter-colored cousins.

“If you can do it with solar heat, you don’t need quite as much metabolic heat,” and, therefore, need less food, Thorington said.

Squirrels in general have adapted well to human development. And as cities and towns sprawl into the countryside, it may be that more people are seeing black squirrels because they’re living where the squirrels have always been.

And the gene for black fur, which may have been isolated in a pocket of squirrels in a woods, has ridden a squirrel population explosion brought on by human development into greater genetic prominence.

At least that’s what Darwin might say.

Take 250 pounds of sand, a dozen hula hoops, several pounds of prairie seed and 60 elementary students pretending they’re bison stampeding through a drainage basin and what do you have?

How about lots of fun and a new home for a rain garden!

Severson Dells, William Charles development and Spectrum School are partnered today on a project to create a rain garden in a storm water detention basin near the Hudson Place Condominiums, a William Charles Development. See the Register Star story by Geri Nikolai.

We planted the rain garden today on the north side of the condos, near the 2600 block of North Main Street. The property was once home to Kmart.

This was a great project before the rain garden. By recycling property in the city, William Charles is helping Rockford grow without gobbling up precious green space. That’s smart growth.

But the rain garden is delicious icing on the project.

Rain gardens are eco-friendly plantings of water-tolerant native plants. They’re normally smaller than drainage basins, most commonly put in wets spots in a home owners lawn. But they work the same. People plant rain gardens them to filter water from their roofs, driveways and lawns so the chemicals, nutrients and other impurities found in runoff. Plants used in rain gardens hold water. Their deep roots allow runoff to be absorbed into the ground, rather than directed to a storm sewer and into a river or creek where it contributes to flooding. You can find information on planting your own rain garden here: Home and Garden Clean Water Practices

Rain gardens also provide habitat for birds, butterflies and other small creatures.

The Hudson Place rain garden covers about a quarter acre. It is a drainage basin for nearby parking lots, rooftops, lawns and streets. Students from Sally Wonder’s and Mary Jo McKenzie’s classes spent the morning planting the seeds.

Here’s how we did it.

We put a dozen hula hoops on areas that were to be planted and put a scoop of seeds mixed in moistened sand in buckets. Students sprinkled the mixture in and around their hula hoop. When they were finished, they did the buffalo stomp, dancing around in their circle to push seeds into the ground like great herds of bison once did in the grasslands. Then the hoops were moved to unplanted areas and the process repeated.

Planting was slow and muddy. And our seed and sand mixture seemed about ready to run out. But then Brian Russart from Winnebago County Soil & Water Conservation arrived with more seeds. Brian hand broadcast seeds in areas that might have been barren. Thanks Brian!

Then in one last stampede, our Spectrum School bison herd ran through the bottom of the muddy basin to pack the seeds into the ground where they will wait until spring to sprout.

This is a really cool project that we hope William Charles can inspire other developers to use native plants on their projects.

Thanks to all participants – especially the bison!

FACT SHEET – Hudson Place Rain Garden

Partnership – This project is collaboration between the non-profit Severson Dells Nature Center, developer William Charles, Spectrum School and other public and parochial schools that can use this area for nature study.

Pilot Project – This planting is a pilot project. Severson Dells hopes it is replicated it throughout the region so drainage basins provide habitat, flood control, maintenance cost savings, environmental protection and natural beauty for folks to enjoy. Illinois is the Prairie State. These plants are our heritage.

The Hudson Place Rain Garden covers about a quarter-acre. The bottom of the basin will be hand-seeded with plants that tolerate moisture. Other areas will be planted with plants that like drier soils.

Education – This site will become a living laboratory for students from nearby schools to learn about native plants and ecosystems. It gives Severson Dells Nature Center a place to do lessons offsite, helping bring nature to students in their own backyard and fulfilling our mission of linking people of all ages to nature.

Flood Control – Rain gardens are collections of native plants with deep roots. They help control storm water runoff by slowing it down and holding it onsite longer. The deep root systems act as a conduit for water, allowing it to be absorbed by the ground instead of being immediately sent to rivers and streams where it can add to flooding. This is extremely important during heavy rains, like those that caused Rockford’s Labor Day floods.

Natural water filter – Native plants act as nature’s kidneys, filtering pollutants in water. They absorb nutrients and other impurities washed off lawns, roads, parking lots, roofs and industrial developments.

Habitat – More than 40 species of grasses and native wildflowers are being planted in the Hudson Place rain garden. A typical drainage basin will have only a few species of grass and weeds. These native plants will provide food and shelter for a wide variety of butterflies, insects and birds.

Eco Friendly – Rain Gardens are low maintenance. They don’t need fertilizers or pesticides. They need several mowings during the first couple of years to control weeds. They may need hand weeding. After that, they need to be mowed once a year, which cuts maintenance costs. Deep roots control erosion.

City of Gardens – The Rockford Park District Foundation has worked extremely hard to beautify the city with colorful plantings. This project enhances their efforts.

How green is your candidate? Well you may have a chance to find out. The BlackHawk Sierra Club is holding a candidate’s forum at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 4848 Turner St., Rockford.

Winnebago County Board candidates have been invited to attend and talk about environmental and land use issues facing Winnebago County.

The biggest issue is how to handle growth that is expected in coming years. DeKalb County is already facing many of the issues residents here will soon face (see post, Farmland vs Sprawl)

According to the Blackhawk Sierra Club:

It’s critical that the County Board candidates know you are concerned about urban sprawl and the quality of air and water. This is the time to tell them about your support of bike paths, hiking trails and land acquisition for the forest preserves.

Land use and zoning, forest preserves, economic development and transportation are topics candidates will be asked to discuss.

Reginald Arkell, long-range planner for Winnebago County, will introduce the Forum with a presentation about the update of the County Land Use Plan, and what the County Board can do to control urban sprawl, protect natural areas and preserve farmland.

Jamie Johhansen will present the results of the “Green Communities” public opinion poll about preserving open land and greenways along our rivers and streams. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, call Stanley Campbell, conservation chair, at (815) 964-7111.

The Rockford Register Star’s story Sunday on the Labor Day Keith Creek flood examines whether vegetation overgrowth and debris in the man-made channel contributed to flooding. The city says that 8+ inches of rain would have caused the flood – debris or not.

It’s a nice reaction story to observations by neighbors. But the real culprit is not debris or the rain. It’s a lack of land use planning.

The Four Rivers Environmental Coalition says flooding took place in an area that has experienced some of the highest development in recent years. Parking lots, roads, rooftops and other artificial services don’t hold rain as well as greenways with native plants and wetlands, which hold water and release it slowly.

Here are some more great points made by the Four Rivers folks.

• An adequate system of protected green space and functioning natural ecosystems is the best flood insurance possible.
• New development needs to follow conservation design principles to minimize negative impact.
• Invest in creating an interconnected system of quality land, rather than going to the government for millions of dollars in funding for built infrastructure to handle flooding created by poor land use decisions.
• Watersheds need to be developed only to their carrying capacities. Limit development (impervious land cover) to no more than 10% in each of the four major watersheds. Research demonstrates that stream health is destroyed when 15% of land in a watershed is developed.

• Benefits of a green landscape in appropriate quantity and locations:
• Improve overall quality of environment
• Reduce flood damages
• Improve water quality by reducing runoff contamination
• Provide areas for aquifer recharge
• Reduce erosion
• Increase property values
• Protect rivers and streams
• Protect wildlife habitat
• Improve recreational opportunities

These are all great ideas. But unless people concerned about land use issues are heard, there will never be any change. So here’s an opportunity. Winnebago County is working on a long-range plan for land use and zoning in unincorporated areas. The county is taking a survey. Take a half hour to let your feelings be known.

There’s an interesting story on sprawl by Lester Graham of the Great Lakes Radio Consortium that mentions development around DeKalb. The story says that some counties are trying to protect farmland by pointing out “some of that difference between farmland value and development value. “

Scott Everette with the American Farmland Trust, says the argument is simple economics that farmland is less of a tax burden than development:

“Because we won’t have to add public services. Cows don’t go to school. Chickens don’t dial 9-1-1. Corn, wheat and soybeans need a lot less fire and police protection than residential development.”

Everette warns that urban-influenced counties need to act now or farmland will be gone.
DeKalb (IL) County is among the most rapidly developing counties in the nation as sprawl moves west from Chicago. County Board member Pat Vary says that means the future value of farmland is far greater than its present value. Says Vary:

“I really think that in about thirty years, forty years from now, that an acre of farmland in DeKalb County will be worth more than an acre of downtown Chicago. You can’t eat buildings. You can’t eat pavement. People are going to need to eat. I really believe it’s critical, it’s vital to do something fairly fast.”

Read or listen (4:39) to the story, SAVING FARMLAND FROM SPRAWL

Brian Leaf