WHEN SOMEONE CARES
            Along the banks of the Pecatonica River on the eastside of Freeport are forty-four acres, some of it flood plain, that James and Mickey Jewell decided to purchase as a place to live with a house elevated above the river, woodlands, and cropland in the flood plain. Their vision for the land included restoring it to a natural area and eventually sharing it in some way with others.
            They learned something of the history of the property, the many years of flood damaged crops, and reports of an Indian settlement located there. In 1904 they began restoring the hardwood forest that had originally been located on the flood plain by planting 5,000 seedlings along the river. Such a planting, a riparian buffer, would be effective at reducing non-point pollution of the river.
            The rains and flooding came two weeks after the 5,000 seedlings were planted. The floodwaters stayed in the field of new trees for two weeks. The Jewells were certain they had lost all of the seedlings. After they had surveyed the apparent loss, they called Jim Ritterbusch, NRCS District Conservationist, who had helped them place these eighteen acres in the Riparian Buffer option of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). When he walked the area, he saw that all was not lost. Not only did most of the seedlings make it but he pointed out another 60,000 trees. The timing of the flood and seeds dropping from area trees produced seedlings naturally.
            The Illinois Buffer Partnership cosponsored the riparian buffer planting initiated by the Jewells with coordination from Trees Forever. This non-profit organization that now has headquarters in Iowa was founded in 1989 by two volunteers. Trees Forever has planted 2.5 million trees in communities, on farms, along roads, streams, and rivers in Illinois and Iowa. Trees Forever is taking applications for conservation buffer sites. Find out more at www.treesforever.org.
            The Jewells also planted some hardwoods with stock from Forrest Keeling Nursery in Elsberry, Missouri known as RPM trees. A patented natural process, Root Production Method, is used by the Nursery to grow trees to maturity faster creating a root biomass as much as 18 times greater than trees grown using traditional methods. www.fknursery.com
            If the trees are to continue to be effective as buffers, they must be managed and maintained. A recent woodland tour of the newly forested acres shows that the Jewells are truly caring for their crop of trees. Management includes, weed control, replanting and reseeding, pruning and thinning. And picking up the trash carried downstream by the river and left on their property – less this year, but still 8 large bags full, two tires, and one wheel.
            Pheasants Forever partnered with Jewells in restoring a natural area by helping them with good plots of prairie grasses.

Della Moen, Earth Team Volunteer, NRCS/Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District, an equal opportunity provider and employer, 10/07/09 for publication on  10/17/09 in the Journal Standard, Freeport, Illinois) Della can be reached at info@stephensonswcd.org