"And so the name Chicago Wilderness
was born. It describes a network task force of organizations
dedicated to restoration and a new philosophy of stewardship
that values our native species..."
A new book, with
photographs by Robert Shaw and Jason Lindsey, shows the
breathtaking beauty of restored Chicago Wilderness lands
A new book of spectacular color photographs
showcases Chicago's "natural wonders" — many
of which are the result of years of restoration work. Windy
City Wild: Chicago's Natural Wonders, with photographs
by Robert Shaw and Jason Lindsey, celebrates the beauty
found in the five distinct ecosystems — tall-grass
prairies, oak savannas, forests, lakeshores, and wetlands
— within a 55-mile radius of Chicago. In his foreword
to the book, Bill Kurtis calls this "lush portfolio"
of photographs a reward for the many individual volunteers,
as well as Chicago Wilderness member organizations, that
have worked to restore native habitats in this area (see
below).
The nature and wildlife photography
of Robert Shaw and Jason Lindsey has appeared in Outdoor
Photographer,The Nature Conservancy magazine,
Illinois Audubon, and Backpacker. For this
project, they teamed up to document the wide-ranging beauty
of the Chicago region, including vistas of shooting stars
at Chiwaukee Prairie, blazing star and goldenrod at Gensburg-Markham
Prairie, a pair of sandhill cranes feeding along the banks
of the Fox River, a carpet of trillium in Messenger Woods,
fog rising over Volo Bog, and a fox family venturing out
at dawn (follow the links at left to view selected images).
Jason Lindsey (left) and Robert Shaw
took their big lenses out into Chicago Wilderness to document
breathtaking beauty, much of it the result of extensive
restoration efforts. Photo by David Hessel.
From the Foreword by Bill Kurtis:
As the city and farmland spread, the
acres of forest and prairie preserved so carefully by early
conservationists were left untouched. The prevailing attitude
of conservation was "Don’t touch it." "Don’t
burn it." "Leave it as nature intended."
While laudable in its commitment, it lacked an understanding
of how the system works. Prairies need occasional fires
to cleanse themselves of intrusive species. The forests
were savaged by buckthorn, an import from Great Britain
that was used as a hedge in the northern suburbs. Its rapid
growth blocked the sun from the understory, smothering the
oaks and leaving the forest floor bare, devoid of the rich
carpet of trilliums and jack-in-the-pulpits. The rapid-growing
trees changed the hydrology to encourage even more invasion.
As the third millennium approached,
biologists and ecologists discovered the dark side of a
well-intended conservation effort. Nature’s treasure
of biodiversity so carefully preserved a century earlier
was being consumed by alien intruders and would soon be
replaced by a tangle of foreign plants and trees. Could
it be saved?
This lush portfolio by photographers
Robert Shaw and Jason Lindsey answers the question in the
affirmative. It documents the reward for thousands of volunteers
and nearly a hundred conservation organizations that searched
diligently for native species and cleared the intruders
away from them. They reintroduced fire into the natural
equation. The result was astonishingly beautiful. Within
a single season, many native plants rebounded as if they
had been awakened from hibernation exclaiming, "The
prairie is back!"
And so the name Chicago Wilderness was
born. It describes a network task force of organizations
dedicated to restoration and a new philosophy of stewardship
that values our native species with the same appreciation
as those Chicagoans who set out to preserve them in the
first place. There is much to be done in the restoration
effort. Let these pictures be our guide to what once was
and what could be again.
Early Chicago Wilderness residents
on the natural beauty
they experienced, from the book, Windy City Wild:
"I was in the midst of a
prairie! A world of grass and flowers stretched around
me, rising and falling in gentle undulations, as if
an enchanter had struck the ocean swell, and it was
at rest forever. Acres of wild flowers of every hue
glowed around me, and the sun arising from the earth
where it touched the horizon, was ‘kissing with
golden face the meadows green.’"
—
Eliza R. Steele, A Summer Journey in the West,
1840
"Beyond the young woods lies
the crowing attraction of River Forest, the big woods...Here
are elms no two of us can span, high and flourishing
as any in New England; tall hickorys, with their swollen
buds just waking up and pushing back the covers that
have kept them snug and warm through the long winter;
and huge gnarled oaks, trees that were never young,
their sluggish blood still unstirred by the returning
sun. They are old and wise and sleep until all the
spring chills and storms are over. But they do not
see the young green shoots, or the white hawthorns
like great bridal bouquets, or the pink crab-apples
that make the woods so dainty today. They do not feel
the gentle touch of the blue phlox and the violets
and the buttercups against their hard dark boles,
or the caressing of the sunbeams that filter through
the tree tops. The oaks are old and wise and they
will outlive all the rest."
— Louella
Chapin, Round About Chicago, 1907
Windy
City Wild, with photographs by Robert Shaw and Jason
Lindsey, is published by Chicago Review Press, at $39.95.
Available at local bookstores, from Amazon.com,
or call (800) 888-4741. The 128-page book includes a
foreword by Bill Kurtis and an epilogue by Bruce Boyd
of The Nature Conservancy.
Note: When you purchase from
Amazon.com using our link, Chicago WILDERNESS will receive
a referral fee. Thank you for your support.
