Open Grasslands

The thick stand of trees borders my drive to work for almost a mile. Most of the trees are smallish, less than a foot in diameter. Shrubs fill in the spaces between the trees. Casual passersby call it “woods.”

In the early morning mist, the noise as earthmovers, tree cutters and wood chippers came in and fell almost all of the trees was only slightly louder than the uproar as well-meaning, concerned citizens pummeled the Forest Preserve District offices with irate phone calls of protest.

Later in the day, I drove by the scene and was amazed at the clearing the workers had accomplished in just one day. Steam rose from a huge pile of wood chips as the heat of the recently dismembered trees escaped into the air. Hundreds of tree carcasses lay stacked together awaiting their appointment with the chipper, while others lay alone where they fell.

On first reaction, I, too, was appalled. I grew up valuing the majesty and age of Oak trees that were more than one hundred years old. Our neighborhood’s streets were named for trees: Linden, Ash, Burr Oak, Pine, Olive. The mature trees in our yard were treasured.

However, first reactions should not dictate close-mindedness to the bigger picture.

This stand of woods was primarily composed of non-native, fast growing and short-lived trees and shrubs that do not support birds and wildlife well. They had popped up in recent decades along the northern border of hundreds of acres of open grassland. The grassland has been undergoing extensive care to restore it to a healthy prairie.

It is sometimes surprising the emphasis people would place on allowing trees, any trees, to grow wherever they volunteer despite the inhibition they cause to native flora.

South of the now flattened stand of trees, the land rolls gently and is covered with a vast variety of grasses, sedges, and flowers. This rich diversity of plants is suited to the Illinois prairie conditions: winds, drought, fires . It is beautiful and alive, vibrant with wildlife year round. Managed fires encourage the prairie plants’ growth while deterring invasive non-native plant and trees from becoming established.

In time, hardy plants suited to the prairie clay will spring up from the raw earth where cut down trees and piles of wood chips lay today.

My inner life is like that stand of trees. When I was younger, the land of my inner self was open and welcoming to beauty, creativity, imagination, full of diverse ideas and interests. As I grew, spindly trees and choking shrubs crowded together to block out the life-giving sun… The trees of routine, conformity, expectations crowded out my curiosity, openness and imagination and I became lost in the shadows of their overarching branches.

It is time to fell the weedy trees, remove the shrubs and open the land of my inner self to allow the native plants to grow again.