By Ed Coleman, Extension Master Naturalist, serving Fulton, Mason, Peoria, and Tazewell counties
In 2020, the family members of the John Elwood and Mary Elwood Trust donated a 75.5 acre tract of land in Peoria County to the Prairie Land Conservancy, a land trust. Five acres of this was grassland at one time, and the remaining acreage is woodland. The property is now known as the Elwood Wildlife Preserve.
The Conservancy’s goals for Elwood are to protect and restore the woodland and grassland areas to their earlier condition, thus ensuring long-lasting ecosystems for our native wildlife. Volunteers gather on the 3rd Sunday and 3rd Wednesday of each month from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. to improve the site by removing invasive plant species. Because these non‑native plants lack natural constraints here, they quickly outcompete native vegetation for sunlight, water, nutrients, and space.
By removing bush honeysuckle, autumn olive, oriental bittersweet, Japanese barberry, multiflora rose, and garlic mustard, volunteers open up the understory and allow sunlight to reach the woodland floor. Consequently, native plants are given the opportunity to reemerge and thrive. Participants are welcome to bring their own tools (loppers, hand pruners, bow saws, pruning saws, etc.), though the Prairie Land Conservancy can provide tools as needed.
