Campton Township Parks and Open Space planned to increase restoration efforts in a woodland management unit at one of their open space properties, the 208-acre Gray Willows Farm. This project was performed by acquiring an order of native herbaceous woodland seeds to be spread by staff and volunteers in the cleared unit. The project was successful in spreading $8,572.82 worth of native seed throughout the 3-acre management unit.
Native seeds can take a couple years to establish roots and start flowering, so the visual payoff may be somewhat underwhelming at this point, but we have experience with volunteer seed harvests and spreading with our prairie units, and are excited to now include woodland seeding to our repertoire thanks to the contribution made by the Illinois Forestry Development Council. A review of the IFDC’s mission points and their context in the township’s open space program was given during the seed spreading workday to highlight the importance of collaboration in the environmental field.