Cemeteries are an unlikely habitat haven

Exploring some pristine prairie parcels and their history.

The Prairie State has famously lost most of its prairie. A sliver of a percentage of a percentage of native prairie remains in Illinois. Most of the remaining prairie exists by happenstance, so aggressive was its transformation to farmland and other development.

For an ecotone so alive with biodiversity, prairies are often found at a place we don’t associate with the living: cemeteries. Some people may find it creepy to visit cemeteries for their nature. I imagine it also could be considered disrespectful.* Other people may understand that these are large parcels of green space amid our vast tracts of urban life, attractive places for peace and solitude. Animals are indifferent to the surroundings, finding what they need in these patches of ecosystem, though often manicured in ways that are very unnatural.

Loda Cemetery Prairie is an excellent example of a cemetery/nature preserve. It’s just a few acres, surrounded by farmland from horizon-to-horizon. The prairie itself forms a sort of L-shape around the cemetery—Pine Ridge Cemetery, which is dotted with evergreens. The prairie is named after the town of Loda, a few blocks away. Pine Ridge Cemetery has been there a long time, since at least the 1880s. The most prominent grave in the cemetery belongs to Addison Goodell, an early Loda settler. The Loda, Illinois, village website has a bit about Goodell:

Some would say that Adam Smith was the father of the Village. However, after Mr. Smith determined that Loda was not going to payoff financially, he moved on. Addison Goodell purchased the Adam Smith home in 1872. He and his sons tend to receive alot [sic] of credit for Loda's longevity.

The graves of Addison Goodell and his family. Photo by Bob Dolgan.

The story of Loda Cemetery Prairie provides a lens into how cemeteries work. People want to be buried near the resting place of their relatives. To some degree, the cemetery must always expand. That was the case at Pine Ridge Cemetery in the early 1980s. The cemetery wanted to expand into the pristine prairie that had always been left vacant. A group of grassroots citizens wanted to preserve the prairie, a vestige of pre-European settlement Illinois. They sought different ways to persuade the cemetery association from expanding into the prairie, home to a whopping 130 native plant species. According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources website, common spring flowers include shooting star, downy phlox and yellow star grass. Rattlesnake master, compass plant and wild quinine are typical during the summer while goldenrods and asters are abundant in the fall.

Not everyone is a conservationist, especially when ancestors, faith, and traditions are involved. The friends of the prairie came up with a creative solution to preserve the pristine ecotone: a land swap that would be a win for both sides. The prairie proponents purchased five acres adjacent to the cemetery so it could expand. The cemetery agreed to dedicate the prairie as an Illinois state nature preserve, meaning it would remain in situ for perpetuity. The property is now owned by the nonprofit Grand Prairie Friends, which owns over 1,060 acres across east-central Illinois in Champaign, Coles, Iroquois, Shelby, and Vermilion counties.

Loda Cemetery Prairie is an Illinois State Nature Preserve, and use is limited to walking, birding, and photography. Camping, picnicking, littering, pets, and vehicles are not allowed inside the preserve. All plants, animals, birds, and insects are protected, so do not disturb or remove any natural objects including rocks, plants, seeds, or insects. Photo by Bob Dolgan.

Loda Cemetery Prairie, in the extreme southwestern corner of Iroquois County, is visible from I-57 as trucks barrel southward from Chicago to destinations in southern Illinois.

For a small property, the cemetery prairie harbors quite a few bird species. When I was there, I flushed about a dozen Mourning Doves and several juncos and tree sparrows. In warmer seasons, the prairie is home to Common Yellowthroat, Dickcissel, Henslow’s Sparrow, and Eastern Meadowlark, according to data provided by a University of Illinois graduate student, Nicole Suckow.

Pine Ridge Cemetery on the left; Loda Cemetery Prairie on the right, after a recent prescribed burn. Photo by Bob Dolgan.

I marvel at what it took—and continues to take—to protect a place like Loda Cemetery Prairie. From the ecologists who knew of the biodiversity and intricacies of the ecosystem there to the nonprofit Grand Prairie Friends that protects it today and further enhances it (the protected area was expanded in 2007). It’s a place to be celebrated when others are still being lost.

*I was once chased from a cemetery by a well-meaning librarian in college while playing Frisbee golf.

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A cemetery wading bird

Rosehill Cemetery is a large swath of green space on Chicago’s North Side. It’s home to multiple small ponds and just enough habitat to make it an interesting birding locale. There’s a little pond north of Peterson Avenue that often makes for an interesting visit. Last spring, there was an American Bittern hanging around the pond, which was quite a surprise. At first glance, the thought of an immature Black-crowned Night-Heron came to mind. But this bird had distinctive, wide stripes on its neck and a longer bill. It was a fun bird to observe on a warm spring day last May.

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A different kind of cemetery prairie

Loda Cemetery Prairie exists beside an active cemetery. But even 100 years ago, Vermont Cemetery in Naperville—a cemetery for early settlers—no longer was active. As the years went by, the one-acre parcel became a time capsule of the Illinois of prior millennia. 

The acre benefited by being hemmed in by a railroad grade, which made it doubly difficult for farmers to reach the land with their equipment. What resulted is rare Grade A dry-mesic prairie harboring more than 100 native plant species. 

The acre, which is fenced in for fear of it being “loved to death,” requires near-constant management, particularly of invasive species such as sweet clover. At least for a hundred yards, looking away from the new housing development, this is what Illinois would have looked like a 100 years ago.

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TWiB Notes

Limpkins are undergoing a range expansion that is resulting in some unprecedented situations—like the individual that has been hanging around Mellody Farm Nature Preserve in Lake Forest. The wading bird rang in the new year at the preserve, becoming the latest-ever record in Illinois (Limpkins have only been seen in Illinois since 2019). Even if they were a nemesis bird for some, they’ve now become the kind of bird people flock to for their year lists. January being a great time to get a head start…..Illinois Ornithological Society has a Speaker Series virtual event coming up on January 24 at 7 p.m., Hawaiian Honeycreepers and the Conservation Crisis: Past, Present, and Future……I’ve received some additional sources after last week’s post about changing honorific bird names and hope to have an addendum to that post for you very soon.