Merger of
Grand Prairie Friends and
Prairie Grove Volunteers

With these thoughts in mind, we are embarking on a new course for the two groups. This will be a course where we can work as one organization for the conservation, stewardship, and ecological management of native communities in east central Illinois. The GPF Board of Directors and the PGV steering committee have authorized a committee to work on expanding our mission and goals to merge the two groups as one. On February 27, 2004, GPF members voted to expand the scope of GPF's constitution and bylaws so the merger could be accomplished.

History of Grand Prairie Friends

In the early 1980s, changing national regulations governing the railroad industry resulted in the abandonment of thousands of miles of track that was deemed unprofitable to operate. In Illinois, the right of way over which these tracks extended often harbored small but important patches of native prairie plants that once blanketed the entire surrounding area. The Illinois Natural Areas Inventory, released in the late 1970's, cataloged and graded high quality Illinois plant communities, so the location of many of the higher-quality prairie remnants was known. Many small but good quality remnants were lost as the abandoned rights of way were sold to the adjacent landowners. In the Champaign-Urbana area, these losses were noted by several individuals. David Monk, in particular, brought the issue to light in news stories, classes at Parkland College, and on WEFT, the local community radio station.

A few people, aware of this loss of habitat, began efforts to rescue plants that were at risk of being lost due to the sale of the abandoned rail corridors on which they were located. Many were relocated to home prairie gardens, to Parkland's prairie, or to other sites where they would be appreciated and protected. It was realized that this was, at best, a feeble attempt to reduce the losses. There was no advocate for these small remnants - they were widely scattered and too small to interest the county forest preserve districts. In December, 1983, the first of several meetings was held by a group of interested people to explore the formation of an organization that could directly protect prairie sites through purchase and stewardship, as well as increase public awareness and appreciation for this remnant of our natural heritage. Several meetings were held in peoples' homes during the next several months.

The availability of a strip of right of way, the former Shortline railroad, catalyzed the formation of GPF. Hikes along the stretch between Gifford and Penfield revealed a one-mile section that was home to 40 native species. Since the Illinois Central was advertising the land for sale, Wendy Garrison and her husband, Rich Raspet, stepped forward and obtained a loan to purchase that section for $6,000 to take it off the market. In April, 1984, Grand Prairie Friends of Illinois was incorporated.

The first official meeting was held in September of 1984 at the Urbana Civic Center with approximately 75-100 people in attendance. Wendy Garrison was elected as the first President of GPF. She and Rich contributed $3,000 toward the purchase of the Shortline Railroad Prairie. 

In the first year, the group completed the by-laws and received non-profit, tax exempt status to facilitate the work of the organization. Education was an important mission of GPF from the outset. In 1985, GPF hosted the first Central Illinois Prairie Conference at Mahomet-Seymour High School. There were 275 in attendance.

Since the early days many other projects and activities have taken root including an annual spring plant sale which has turned into one of the major fundraising activities of GPF. The funds from the sale have allowed us to hire interns to help with stewardship activities at the various sites GPF owns or helps to maintain. GPF has also been successful at receiving grant monies from the Department of Natural Resources to purchase equipment and supplies, and to host workshops on such topics as plant propagation, prairie burns and the development of discovery boxes for local school programs.

The organization has also helped to plant and maintain prairie gardens at several school locations in Champaign-Urbana. A prairie quilt was designed and completed in 2001 for exhibit purposes at local libraries, quilt shows, museums and nature centers. Acquisition and preservation activities have continued such that at present GPF preserves or manages more than a dozen prairies in Champaign, Ford, Iroquois and Vermilion counties. A detailed list of the sites as well as additional information on GPF can be found in the Fall 2003 edition of The Illinois Steward magazine.

With the cessation of the mass railroad abandonments, opportunities to acquire new prairie remnants have been few. In the mid-1990s, GPF members began working with the Prairie Grove Volunteers on stewardship projects involving native communities other than prairie. Many people were members of both groups, and eventually this shared appreciation for all native community types led to the joint publication of the newsletter, a sharing of tools and storage space, and a coordination of workday schedules.

History of Prairie Grove Volunteers

With the combined efforts of The Illinois Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission (INPC), the Volunteer Stewardship Network (VSN) began as a hands-on program in northeastern Illinois in the mid 1980’s. Its original function was to assist in the formation of volunteer groups, or support those already in place, that could help to care for critical natural areas in their regions. The VSN expanded to the central Illinois region in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. A steering committee of local Conservancy members interested in volunteering met in the fall of 1991. Local conservation organizations (including Grand Prairie Friends) were contacted and a workshop to attract volunteers was scheduled for the following spring. On March 9, 1991 Michael Reuter, of the Peoria TNC office, gave a presentation at the Anita Purves Nature Center in Urbana. One hundred ten people were in attendance. A group of volunteers from this meeting agreed to form the steering committee for a new local VSN group. They had their first official meeting on March 28, 1991. It was at the second meeting in August 1991 that the name “Prairie Grove Volunteers” (PGV) was approved for the group as well as the name “Second Nature” for the group’s newsletter. PGV’s mission statement was approved in September: “To preserve, restore, and manage ecological communities native to east central Illinois through the involvement of volunteers.”

Grand Prairie Friends (GPF) and Prairie Grove Volunteers shared much involvement in the early years as well as in recent years. Both groups have been dedicated to the recognition, preservation, and management of local high quality natural areas in east central Illinois. From the beginning, GPF provided PGV with much appreciated expertise and assistance in the location and management of local natural areas.

From its inception though, Prairie Grove Volunteers has functioned with a slightly different scope and mechanism than Grand Prairie Friends. Grand Prairie Friends is a self-sustaining, incorporated organization that focuses its efforts mainly on remnant prairies and savannas in the region. It depends on fundraising efforts, membership dues, and donations to maintain a budget on which it can function. It also acts as a land trust and has the capability to acquire/own tracts of land through purchase or donation. Prairie Grove Volunteers is not an incorporated organization, cannot acquire property in its own right, and receives most of its funding from various sources including the VSN, INPC, Illinois Department of Natural Resources small grants, and recently, a Conservation 2000 grant. It has a slightly broader scope of management, incorporating woodland and wetland communities, in addition to those prairies/savannas shared with GPF.

As does Grand Prairie Friends, Prairie Grove Volunteers works to promote and educate local citizens about the remarkable natural areas that occur in this region and the importance of maintaining them as some of the last refuges for many plants and animals that depend on these indigenous communities. PGV has sponsored many educational workshops and seminars throughout the years that have provided biologists and laypersons alike a chance to learn more about the different species and communities that inhabit this area.

Sites stewarded by Grand Prairie Friends and Prairie Grove Volunteers

For the past 20 and 13 years respectively, volunteers with Grand Prairie Friends and Prairie Grove Volunteers have provided stewardship for valuable native prairie, wetland, savanna and forest remnants in east central Illinois. We only own four of the sites listed below, so we cooperate with the private and public landowners for the rest of the sites. When combined, 33 sites (over 2000 acres) in 6 counties (Champaign, Douglas, Ford, Iroquois, Piatt and Vermilion) have been actively stewarded by GPF (14) and PGV (19). Currently the two organizations list 42 volunteer site stewards. Included among the sites we help care for are eleven state nature preserves, one state natural area, one natural heritage landmark and a national scenic river. Community types represented include 15 forest, 13 prairie, 3 wetland and 2 savanna sites.

Champaign County
Brownfield Woods
Buffalo Trace Prairie Reconstruction
Busey Woods
Meadowbrook Park Prairie
Middle Fork Wetland Restoration
Nettie Hart Woodland Memorial
Patton Woods
Royal Bur Oak Grove
Shortline Railroad Prairie
Tomlinson Pioneer Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve
Trelease Woods
Welles Cemetery Prairie
Windsor Road Prairie Reconstruction

Douglas County
KBS Railroad Prairie

Ford County
Paxton Railroad Prairie
Prospect Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve

Iroquois County
Bonnie’s Prairie Nature Preserve
Loda Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve
Loda Railroad Prairie

Piatt County
Jasmine Hollow Natural Heritage Landmark

Vermilion County
Babe Woodyard State Natural Area
Russell M. Duffin Nature Preserve
Fairchild Cemetery Savanna Nature Preserve
Carl Fliermans’ River Nature Preserve
Forest Glen Seep Nature Preserve
Horseshoe Bottom Nature Preserve
Howard’s Hollow Seep Nature Preserve
Middle Fork National Scenic River
Middle Fork River Bluffs
Middle Fork Woods Nature Preserve
Pellville Cemetery Prairie
Doris Westfall Prairie Nature Preserve
Windfall Prairie Nature Preserve

updated: December 19, 2007
www: www.prairienet.org/gpf
email: gpf@prairienet.org