Pioneer Park Habitat Restoration

Pioneer Park is a 26-acre community park situated along the west branch of the DuPage River. The Naperville Park District purchased approximately 15 acres of the park in the 1970s with the assistance of a Land and Water Conservation grant and leases the remaining acres from the DuPage County Forest Preserve District. In 2001, the City of Naperville constructed a 1-mile segment of the DuPage River Trail through the park. In 2007, the Naperville Park District added a restroom, shelter, and canoe launch, and the City of Naperville installed an asphalt parking lot providing access to the trail and new amenities.

Pioneer Park is predominately a natural area used for passive recreation, such as picnicking, bicycling, and observing nature. The 26 acres of open space include three types of habitat, including prairie, woodland, and wetland. Each habitat supports a variety of plants and animals and is important to the ecology of the DuPage River watershed.

Over the years, Pioneer Park habitats have been invaded by non-native species, such as buckthorn, teasel, and reed canary grass, leading to a loss of plant and animal diversity.

Project Overview and Funding
In 2007, the Naperville Park District began restoring the prairie, woodland, and wetland habitats with assistance from a Conservation 2000 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

An important step in restoring a woodland habitat is to remove invasive trees and plants, including buckthorn, honeysuckle, and garlic mustard. The project began in the spring of 2007 with removal of garlic mustard and teasel by parks staff and volunteers. In the fall of 2007, the Park District hired an ecological contractor to assist with the restoration project. One of the contractor's first tasks was to remove buckthorn and honeysuckle in the wooded area to the north of the new trail plaza. In 2008, the contractor's tasks will include planting of native trees, plants, and seed mixtures, as well as continued management of invasive species.

Project Benefits
Ecosystem partnerships, including Chicago Wilderness and the DuPage River Coalition, support similar habitat restoration projects in Illinois. The benefits of restoring an oak woodland are illustrated in contrasting photographs from Vestal Grove in Northbrook, Illinois.

The first photograph shows a woodland area overgrown with buckthorn. In contrast, the second photograph shows another site in the same woodland that was carefully managed, removing buckthorn and restoring diverse plant life to the forest understory.

Diverse native plants in an oak woodland support a diversity of insects that are crucial to the food chain. Native plans also create a variety of natural nesting sites, thereby supporting migratory birds and other animals.

As Chicago Wilderness Magazine reports, "Within a 160-acre woodland forest preserve in Cook County, the battle against invasive plants is being won. Active management is reversing years of neglect, and Harms Woods, located along the north branch of the Chicago River in Glenview, Illinois, now bears the hallmark of a diverse and healthy woodland - a blanket of native flora sprinkled with beautiful wildflowers, bathed in sunlight." http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/spring2005/IWharmswoods.html.

Pioneer Park Project Plans for 2008
In 2008, the project activities will include continued management of invasive plants such as garlic mustard and teasel. New trees will be planted at the border of the oak woodland to increase the buffer between the townhomes and park. Additional native trees will be planted in the oak woodland, along with a native woodland seed mix. Seeding and planting will take place through the fall of 2008 in the prairie, wetland, and woodland habitats adjacent to the trail plaza.

Restoration of the habitat at Pioneer Park is a long-term, ongoing project. The Park District plans to install interpretive signs at the park to inform park visitors about the woodland, wetland, and prairie habitat restoration. Pioneer Park is a visible example of the Park District’s efforts to care for the natural environment.

If you have questions about the project, please contact Peggy Pelkonen at ppelkonen@napervilleparks.org