photo courtesy of Friends of the Green Bay Trail website.
Glencoe, IL — Now that the Friends of the Green Bay Trail have nearly completed restoration of their first section of the Green Bay Trail, they are preparing to restore their next section, from South Ave. down to the community garden at Shelton Park.
In order to prepare, the Friends of the Green Bay Trail worked with Green City Gardens, Inc. to develop a plan for the restoration. They divided the trail into sections by soil type and matched each section with plants that will not only thrive in that soil, but will help restore the natural ecosystem. Buckthorn and poison ivy currently rule a large portion of the trail. The spikes on buckthorn deter native animals and the chemical it deposits in the soil discourages native plants from germinating. This contributes to soil erosion and poor water absorption on the trail.
But some homeowners along the first section were unhappy about the removal of so much foliage from the trail. Buckthorn does provide a nice hedging.
City manager Phil Kiraly said they learned a few lessons from the homeowners’ frustrations with the trail’s first restoration. As such, community input was sought earlier in the process this time.
Last summer, the Friends of the Green Bay Trail invited property owners near the trail to a presentation about the next section to undergo restoration. A dozen or so came and gave feedback that was integrated into the plan that Friends of the Green Bay Trail presented at a community meeting on December 13.
The Friends of the Green Bay Trail hosted the December 13 community meeting with the Village and the Park District at the Takiff Center in order to display their plan blueprints and get community feedback. With the goal of opening community conversation around their plans to eradicate non-native plants and beautify the trail, the Friends hand delivered letters to all the homes along the next section of the trail, inviting neighbors to this community meeting.
At the meeting, the Friends were able to answer a handful of questions questions about the goal of their organization, how they plan to sustain their work into the future, and what the partnership between the Village, park district, and Friends of the Trail looks like.
According to Friends volunteer Meredith Clement, some neighbors expressed concern about being able to see the train from their windows after the buckthorn is removed. But Clement said opening up the trail a little bit actually makes some people more inclined to use the trail.
“I have taken a group of elderly women whom I am friends with [to the trail] and they had not been on the trail in over 15 or 20 years because it was too forested and ‘too full of alternative activities and individuals,’” Clement said. “After seeing it in the springtime, [my elderly friends] said they are now using the trail on days when they aren’t at risk for falling. They feel safe now, environmentally.”
Of course, the eradication of buckthorn and introduction of native plants takes time. But the Friends of the Green Bay Trail and the Village have committed to the process for the long term. “It will take time to eradicate buckthorn,” City manager Kiraly said. “We realize this isn’t something that can be done overnight. It’s something that will continue to be worked toward. The plan is to go in and do work and then continue to steward it afterwards. That’s an effort that the friends have committed to.”
Park District board president Dudley Onderdonk the trail restoration is a good thing. “It contributes to plant and animal diversity and not only makes travel along the Green Bay Trail more attractive, it actually provides health benefits to the community by providing nesting areas for birds and bringing back insects. It’s a good thing that contributes to the stability of our natural environment,” Onderdonk said.
Originally published in the Glencoe Anchor on December 18, 2017
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