Join Oak Rescue workday Sunday

Spend some time outdoors and help make a great park even better.

Volunteer at Sterne's Woods & Fen from 9 to 11 a.m. Sunday, July 24. This month, they are continuing the Oak Rescue effort. Invasive understory bushes crowd out young oak saplings, shading them to death before they have chance to mature. Even the tallest oaks in Sterne's Woods are losing their lower limbs to competition with the invasives.

Participants will cut out buckthorn and honeysuckle bushes beneath several 100-plus-year-old oak trees beside the trail. Then the native understory plants and oaks will have a chance to thrive again.

The Oak Rescue is part of a series of monthly volunteer days at Sterne's Woods & Fen. The group meets from 9 to 11 a.m. the fourth Sunday of every month at the Sterne's outdoor pavilion, 5617 Hillside Drive. Volunteers can learn about restoration ecology and what makes Sterne's special.

Bring a water bottle and a pair of work gloves. The park district will supply the tools and there will be treats. To receive updates, email Brice Alt, volunteer site steward, at bricemaieralt@hotmail.com.

Sterne's Woods & Fen became an Illinois State Nature Preserve in 1994 to preserve and protect its unique ecology. A fen is a rare type of wetland in which cold groundwater that is high in calcium and magnesium seeps to the surface. The water chemistry supports plants that grow nowhere else.

Sterne's Fen is home to at least 10 rare or endangered plant species. The surrounding parkland acts as a buffer to the fen and includes prairie, oak savanna, and flatwood ecosystems. Every one of those ecosystems can benefit from the efforts of volunteers.