“Management and restoration of the
Cache River is a work in progress
involving DNR, The Nature Conservan-cy,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
Ducks Unlimited, with support from
NRCS, Southern Illinois University-Car-bondale,
Friends of the Cache River,
Citizens Committee to Save the Cache
River and other local constituency
groups,” said Jim Waycuilis, site super-intendent
of the 14,314-acre site span-ning
Johnson and Pulaski counties.
At monthly meetings, partners dis-cuss
how to maximize efforts and lever-age
funds for restoration of the unique
bottomland forest and river ecosystems.
“One of the largest accomplishments
within the boundaries of the Cache
River project is the reforestation of lands
that were cleared and drained through-out
much of the last two centuries,”
Mark Guetersloh, district heritage biolo-gist,
said. “Since 1991, more than
601,000 seedlings have been planted
on 1,560 acres, and almost 2,000 acres
of wetlands restored on public and pri-vate
lands within the watershed, due in
large part to support from the Conserva-tion
2000 program and W-76-D project.”
The W-76-D projects implemented at
the Cache River SNA also are an excel-lent
example of how cooperative
efforts—development of wetlands,
removal of exotic species, trail develop-ment,
planting of warm-season grass-es—
between biologists with different
specialities can have profound benefits
for both game and nongame species.
“In most cases, when landscape-scale
practices are used for effective
and sustainable resource management,
you find that what is good for one
species will benefit the entire resource,”
Guetersloh explained.
Giant City State Park
“Much of the public is unaware of the
scope of hunting programs within some
of our state parks,” said Dan Woolard,
district wildlife biologist working with
staff at Giant City State Park. “The W-
76-D project at this park has not only
helped create grassland areas, but sev-eral
ponds and water holes that benefit
wildlife and create other recreational use
opportunities.”
4 / OutdoorIllinois January 2006
Food plots managed within the park
provide a hard grain source that may be
a critical wildlife food some years.
“If there is poor mast production, or
even a failure of oaks to produce
acorns, these food plots are heavily uti-lized
by forest and grassland wildlife,”
Woolard explained.
“Management of Giant City requires
looking at the big picture because of the
proximity of Carbondale, and the fact
that Giant City adjoins the Shawnee
National Forest, Crab Orchard National
Wildlife Refuge and lands owned by
Southern Illinois University,” explained
Bob Martin, site superintendent at Giant
City. “Our work plans take into consider-ation
how urbanization of surrounding
lands will affect wildlife and park pro-
January 2006 OutdoorIllinois / 5
grams, and how to zone the park to
maximize a variety of recreational uses.
“It takes a lot of planning from all dis-ciplines
within DNR to develop a facility
that protects the resources and meets
the needs of park visitors,” Martin con-cluded.
“Despite our best efforts, without
the financial support and volunteer work
of organizations such as the National
Wild Turkey Federation and Friends of
Giant City, many projects would not be
accomplished.”
Wildlife Food and Cover
Management at Kinkaid Lake
SFWA
In addition to providing hunter access,
the Kinkaid Lake State Fish and Wildlife
Area W-76-D project site focuses on con-version
of blocks of fescue to warm-sea-son
grasses and wildlife food plots in a
manner that minimizes soil erosion.
District Wildlife Biologist Rich Whitton
works with the Kinkaid Lake Conservan-cy
District on a long-term project to cre-ate
permanent cover on former agricul-tural
fields. The goal is to create one 40-
to 50-foot wide food strip every 40
acres, locating it adjacent to the previ-ous
year’s strip to maximize plant diver-sity.
Strips rotate on a three to four year
basis from corn to soybeans, clover,
wheat or millet.
“Development of these sites provides
good demonstration areas for private
landowners to see how they can convert
areas to permanent cover that benefits
wildlife,” Whitton said of the Jackson
County project. “It provides a first-hand
experience of seeing how contour strips
work, and the benefits of using mowing,
selective herbicides and burning to
retard woody succession.”
Timber Stand Improvement
(TSI) at Dixon Springs SP
Federal assistance funds are contribut-ing
to a project at Dixon Springs State
The Founders of
Federal Assistance
Nevada Senator Key Pittman and Vir-ginia
Representative A. Willis
Robertson chaired committees on
wildlife and conservation issues, and
made the Federal Aid in Wildlife
Restoration Act of 1937 a reality. As part
of this legislation, hunting and fishing
license fees can be used only for admin-istration
of the fish and game department
and not diverted for other purposes.
Watering holes constructed through
the W-76-D program are typically less
than 12 feet deep, and in recent
years, 3-to 4-foot wetlands are the
trend, costing less than $2,000 to
construct and quickly attracting a
variety of wildlife.
Many W-76-D site management
plans include the use of prescribed
burns on a rotational basis to
maximize ecological diversity.
Through partnerships with the National
Wild Turkey Federation and funding
from the Illinois Habitat Stamp in coop-eration
with the W-76-D project, many
state sites have purchased habitat
management equipment. DNR’s heavy
equipment crew utilizes the equipment
to remove the exotic shrubs autumn
olive and bush honeysuckle.
Project Manager Paul Willms (right)
routinely meets with field staff to discuss
management plans. Here, District Wildlife
Biologist Rich Whitton provided an
overview of activities at Kinkaid Lake
State Fish and Wildlife Area.
Bottomland Forest
Restoration Along
the Cache River SNA
Giant City
State Park
Wildlife Food
and Cover
Management
at Kinkaid
Lake SFWA
Timber Stand
Improvement
(TSI) at Dixon
Springs SP
(Photo by Paul Willms.)
(Photo by Paul Willms.)
