HOPKINS PARK, Ill.–Falling oak leaves pelted me Wednesday, driven by southwest winds topping 30 mph. But I wandered on, determined to get a good ramble in around Okàn Savanna.
Sumac, one of the first plants to change color, stood naked except for the drupes like misshapen fists. Its seeds are credited with dietary and medicinal value, though I’ve never made tea of it myself.
As I walked, I kept alert to make sure I didn’t stumble through prickly pear. Even though it is the most common cactus in Illinois, the sight of prickly pear brightens my day, it seems such an anomaly for northern Illinois.
The Awakening of Okàn Savanna and Nature/Welcome Center was celebrated on Oct. 25 with important people from multiple conservation organizations gathering in Pembroke Township on the east end of Hopkins Park. In early October, the Community Development Corporation of Pembroke-Hopkins Park closed on 29.85 acres of high-quality black oak savanna with help from groups such as Illinois Audubon Society, the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation and Openlands.
“This is how we protect this for future generations,” said Johari Cole-Kweli, president and managing director of CDC-PHP.
Pembroke Township, in the far southeast corner of Kankakee County, is its own anomaly, one hard to reconcile. On one hand, it is one of the poorest townships in the state and the nation, yet incredibly rich in native ecosystems. There is a strong sense of living off the land with respect for nature, including vibrant organic farming, and a sense of community hard to fathom among housing units where far too many are dilapidated
Okàn pronounced “oaken,” means heart and soul in Yoruba, a West African language. It will be the “core of a proposed 60-acre Okàn Savanna Land and Water Reserve. It qualifies for inclusion in the Illinois Nature Preserves system because the high-quality savanna provides a home for the state-endangered highbush blueberry, state-threatened ornate box turtle, and regal fritillary butterfly,” according to the IAS.
I’ve eaten those blueberries and saw my first ornate box turtle and regal fritillary in Pembroke Township.
A black oak savanna is “a unique and endangered ecosystem,” according to the National Park Service, “where eastern hardwood forests meet western tall grass prairies.”
The NPS notes how rare this ecosystem has become, “Oak savannas are sparsely treed grasslands where fire-resistant oaks stand among prairie plants. In the Midwest, it is estimated that less than 0.02% of high quality oak savanna habitat remains.”
“This is a globally significantly landscape,” said Kim Roman, natural area preservation specialist for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
IAS also noted, “Other notable wildlife species documented there include slender glass lizard, red-headed woodpecker, whip-poor-will, plains pocket gopher, and two dozen more Species in Greatest Conservation Need according to IDNR’s State Wildlife Action Plan. Pembroke Township has also been designated as an Important Bird Area.”
Doug Stotz, senior conservation ecologist, for the Field Museum, was there and said breeding season is the better time for birding there.
“Pembroke Township has the largest concentration of high quality black oak savannas and that community type only occurs in the Midwest, so it’s the best of the world,” Roman said. “It’s juicy.”
It’s juicy enough that I came back alone five days later to ramble on my own. Wednesday I first noticed the remnants of the former daycare center–slides, play areas, small picnic tables in the weeds–which is now the nature/welcome center.
It’s in the early stages. The water and plumbing were only functioning just before the Awakening. There is no signage.
The savanna is just in its raw state. One part of the circle trail is an old overgrown gravel road/trail, the other part is brushhogged path, complete with short stumps perfect to trip on.
Yet, there was sumac, prickly pear, grasshoppers and black oaks from acorns to young trees to mature trees. Also things less common for me: thimbleweed, prairie bush clover and prairie willow.
But I also saw old tires, broken glass, balloon fragments (too common in too many places around Chicago), cement blocks, glass jars, old foundations, an old water heater and old wire fencing. There’s work to do. It’s a place worth working on.
“This is a community-led conservation project, this isn’t outside conservation organization setting priorities,” Roman said. “This is community-led and we help them implement their work really listening to what the community has to say and empowering them and leaning on our partners to help them make it happen.”
Okàn Savanna, 13851 East Central Avenue, Hopkins Park, is in its very preliminary stages.