Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge NRDAR Prairie Restoration
Dates
Start Date
2014
End Date
2014
Summary
Background information. In the late 1800s through the early 1900s, nearly all of the area that is now the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge (Crab Orchard NWR) was either logged for timber or cleared and converted to other uses, particularly agriculture. By the 1930s, soils in the area were depleted and severely eroded. Additional clearing and development ensued with the establishment of the Illinois Ordnance Plant during World War II. In 2014, as part of the effort to restore Crab Orchard NWR lands to benefit wildlife, the refuge undertook the Hampton native prairie restoration project to convert a 62-acre nonnative cool-season hay field into a native warm-season grassland. The primary benefit of this restoration is higher quality [...]
Summary
Background information. In the late 1800s through the early 1900s, nearly all of the area that is now the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge (Crab Orchard NWR) was either logged for timber or cleared and converted to other uses, particularly agriculture. By the 1930s, soils in the area were depleted and severely eroded. Additional clearing and development ensued with the establishment of the Illinois Ordnance Plant during World War II.
In 2014, as part of the effort to restore Crab Orchard NWR lands to benefit wildlife, the refuge undertook the Hampton native prairie restoration project to convert a 62-acre nonnative cool-season hay field into a native warm-season grassland. The primary benefit of this restoration is higher quality habitat for grassland-dependent wildlife species, such as migratory birds—particularly those identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as nongame species of management concern: the loggerhead shrike
(Lanius ludovicianus) and grasshopper sparrow
(Ammodramus savannarum). By increasing pollinator habitat, this restoration will also promote conservation of pollinator species, such as the monarch butterfly (
Danaus plexippus). A secondary benefit of the restoration is increased forage availability for cattle. Ongoing maintenance will control weedy species and promote diversity of native grasses and forbs by rotational cattle grazing, prescribed fire, and mowing.
Background information on the Crab Orchard prairie restoration was obtained from Casey Bryan, Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, written commun., 2015; and from Crab Orchard Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration case documents at
http://www.cerc.usgs.gov/orda_docs/CaseDetails?ID=1004.
Economic impacts. The Hampton prairie restoration was funded by the Crab Orchard NWR Natural Resource Damage Assessment. Settlement funds paid for native seed, site preparation and materials, and some labor. Additional labor costs for prescribed fire activities were provided by the Crab Orchard NWR. The initial phase of the Hampton prairie restoration took place in 2014 and cost $42,000 (2014 dollars). Approximately 41 percent of project expenditures was made within the local economy, which supported 0.5 job-years; $17,000 in labor income; $18,000 in value added; and $28,000 in local economic output. Expanding to include the effects of both local and nonlocal expenditures, the Hampton prairie restoration project supported an estimated total of 0.9 job-years; $46,000 in labor income; $75,000 in value added; and $143,000 in economic output in the national economy.