Our forests face a triple threat:

— Invasive species are replacing our rich biodiversity

— Most woods do not receive the prescribed burns that could help protect against the invasions

— In many cases over-abundant white-tailed deer are grazing more heavily than the ecosystem can tolerate

Summer 2000

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
Trillium as a barometer of the health of our woods

Chicago WILDERNESS has received many letters and photographs that document the loss of this region’s inspiring spring flora.

The Chicago Wilderness Biodiversity Recovery Plan and many scientific studies confirm that our forests face a triple threat. First, invasive species are replacing our rich biodiversity. Second, most woods do not receive the prescribed burns that could help protect against the invasions. Third, in many cases over-abundant white-tailed deer are grazing more heavily than the ecosystem can tolerate.

The subject of deer control was treated in some detail in the Winter 2000 issue of Chicago WILDERNESS (see "Prey Without a Predator: Deer and the Ecosystem"). The large-flowered white trillium is an especially visible indicator of a fundamental problem. Repeated grazing destroys them and a great many other species that are less visible. With the trilliums go the butterflies, beetles, frogs, birds, and all the other species dependent on a healthy woodland ecosystem. The letters that follow, and the photographs they describe, are not from trained professionals. They’re from members of the public that love our preserves. We found them compelling.

May 1997

To the Director of the Forest Preserve District of Will County

Dear Sir:

I am an attorney in Chicago and on my "free-time" I make photographs of America’s wild and scenic places with a large format camera... Many of my photographs have appeared in calendars, note cards, and books published by The Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, and Audubon. I am writing to you about a highly distressing situation that has come to my attention over the past two years regarding Messenger Woods, namely the likely eradication of white trillium.

Each spring for the past seven years I have visited Messenger Woods to make photographs and simply enjoy the spectacular display of woodland wildflowers, especially the white trillium. I have photographed and viewed wildflowers in many of America’s wild and scenic places and the spring display at Messenger Woods rivals wildflower displays in this nation’s famous areas such as Antelope Valley, California, Organ Pipe National Monument, Arizona, and Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington. Messenger Woods is a little known national jewel. Last spring, for the first time, I noticed that the trillium were being eaten by deer... The places that were eaten by deer last year lacked trillium this year.

I am not an expert in wildlife or wilderness management but simply a spectator and artist...I do know, however, that the trillium display at Messenger Woods is one that cannot be matched anywhere. The trillium represent a biological heritage of our country that should not be destroyed...I simply wish to bring this issue to your attention because in a couple of years it is very likely that there will be no more trillium at Messenger Woods. I hope and trust that this issue will be promptly discussed by the powers that be. Time is of the essence.

Cordially,

Joseph S. Kayne

cc: Chicago WILDERNESS Magazine

May 2000

Dear Forest Preserve District of Will County,

Recently, I made my annual pilgrimage to Messenger Woods in Will County to marvel at, and photograph, the large flowered white trillium, blue-eyed Marys, and Virginia bluebells. This year my heart sank. There were hardly any trillium.

I considered trying to duplicate trillium photographs of prior years to show the subsequent disappearance of the flora. But I was so distraught by the degradation that I couldn’t bring myself to take a picture.

A friend of mine suggested that fencing could protect the flowers from the deer. But the wilderness experience would be destroyed. It would simply be like viewing flowers in a zoo.

I urge you to control the numbers of deer in Messenger Woods. A priceless heritage is slipping away.

Joseph S. Kayne

cc: Chicago WILDERNESS Magazine

May 5, 2000

To Chicago WILDERNESS,

Here are some images I took last week showing the effect of deer eating trillium at Messenger Woods.

I vividly remember my first excursion to Messenger Woods. It was in the spring of 1995, when a friend of mine, another photographer, shared his knowledge of this special place with me. Photographs, which I had seen of this woodland floor carpeted with spring wildflowers, had prepared me for a glorious experience, but even the best of those distinctive photographs could not have prepared me for the vastness of the beauty that I encountered that day. The sight took my breath away.

Masses of Virginia bluebells carpeted the lowlands along the bank of a stream that meandered through the northern half of the park. In some areas the bluebells gave way to a carpet of blue-eyed Marys. Then, as we worked our way north, the large white trillium began to appear. First they were interspersed in the carpet of blue-eyed Marys and then they formed their own carpet as the terrain sloped up into the highlands.

I sat on a log for quite some time drinking in the sight of the acres of trillium that surrounded me.

Each spring since then I have returned in late April and early May to insure that I would not miss the current year’s display as it reached its peak. As the years have passed I hardly noticed that those once-carpeted acres of trillium in Messenger Woods were shrinking. What was once a carpet had become just a series of throw rugs. Had I been too busy enjoying what was present to notice what was absent? Had the leafless and flowerless stalks gone unnoticed as I searched out the best specimens to photograph? Suddenly, those eaten stalks literally stared me in the face as I focused my lens. As I looked through my viewfinder, I counted one flowering plant with eight eaten stalks beside it. That sight caused me to look around and estimate the ratio of eaten plants to those that were whole; it was clear that the devastation I was seeing was large in scale. Plants were literally disappearing before my very eyes.

I know that trillium are a more relevant topic for the Spring issue, but I think that the sooner we can show the devastation, the more likely someone will take heed. It will soon be too late — if it isn’t already.

Pat Wadecki

Response from the Editors:

Over-population of deer has long been a problem for the conservation lands of Cook, Lake, and DuPage counties. Conservationists overwhelmingly support measures to control the numbers of deer, but elected officials have to contend with the fact that urban culture has no easy place for such policies. Rural people recognize abundant deer as "game" to be "harvested."

Urban and suburban people need also an understanding of predation — and some form of it — in our own "wilderness" culture. Apparently, as the photographs show, the problem is spreading to Will and other counties, as suburban development makes traditional hunting impractical.

Be clear: The problem is not development itself. Actually when farmland is converted, as is typical, to a combination of housing and preserves, there’s a substantial net gain in habitat for deer. The consensus among ecologists is that the problem is the lack of predators.

Whether it be human hunters, wolves, or mountain lions, some sort of predator is a necessary part of any ecosystem with large grazers. Too many deer for the ecosystem is a major challenge for all the region’s landowners. We need to develop the necessary policies and capacities to restore the balance.

Response from Bruce Hodgdon,
Will County Forest Preserve District

The Forest Preserve District of Will County has been studying deer browse at this and other preserves. Chicago WILDERNESS will report on their results in a future issue.