News : Big Restoration at Big Grove: Restoring an Old Treasure

By Patrick McNoughton Big Grove Wildlife Area is one of Benton County Conservation’s (BCC) outlying parcels of land. The one acre site is located approximately 2.5 miles North of Van Horne at the intersection of 21st Ave. and 67th Street. When the pioneers first came to what is Benton County today, the site would have been a small speck of timber in a sea of tall grass prairie. It later became the location of a countryside schoolhouse. The site has been open to public hunting for some time, but the process of ecological succession left it fairly inaccessible. Over the years, native trees like Black Cherry, Hackberry, and Black Walnut combined with non-native/invasive plants like Chinese mulberry and Amur honeysuckle, slowly grew so thick that only rabbits and squirrels could easily traverse the area. To combat plant succession, BCC decided to restore the site to its historical tall grass prairie/oak savanna. Phase 1 of the restoration project involved removing all non-native plants and thinning those that would not have occurred naturally in a prairie. Prescribed fire was implemented to remove cool-season grasses and brush piles, which began to clear the site and return nutrients to the soil. A few brush piles were left for the winter as shelter, to ease the transition from woodlot to prairie for the animals who call Big Grove home. Phase 2 will involve removing nearly all of the undesirable trees and replacing them with Oaks. This will allow remnant plant species (like goldenrod and saw-toothed sunflowers) and restored species to thrive in the open summer sun. Prescribed fires will be used to continue to maintain the site by knocking back woody plants that shade out the prairie Forbes and grasses. In the near future, Big Grove Wildlife Area will provide refuge for native plants and animals which rely on this type of habitat for their own existence. Grassland songbirds and upland game birds will have a place to nest. Small mammals will have food and shelter through the cold winters. And the hunters, trappers, and outdoor enthusiasts of Benton County will have an easily-accessible place to enjoy.