Cemetery Prairies: A Matter of Life and Death

This month’s presenter, Jack Shouba, will share his photography and talk about a little-known aspect of the Illinois prairie.

Twenty-two million acres of Illinois grassland has been replaced by nearly 22,000,000 acres of corn and soybeans, leaving less than 2,200 acres of high-quality prairie, mostly in places inaccessible to the plow. These remnants include railroad rights-of-way and a few pioneer cemeteries. This month’s program will focus on how these cemeteries were discovered and how some have been preserved while others suffer from lack of care.

Jack’s program will include a discussion about why the small size of these cemeteries makes them vulnerable to invasive plants and agricultural chemicals, and how buffer zones are necessary for their continued existence.

About Our Speaker

Jack Shouba’s first career was as a biology and chemistry teacher at Lyons Township High School in Western Springs, where he received the Outstanding Biology Teacher Award for Illinois. After retiring, his second career involved teaching 200 classes in botany, wildflower and tree identification, prairies, and botanical Latin at The Morton Arboretum. At the same time, he served as Campton Township’s Open Space Development Director, helping the township (located in Kane County) to establish one of the first Open Space Programs in the state. Jack has been active as a volunteer in many local and state conservation organizations and has received several awards, including the Dick Young Award for Lifetime Achievement in Conservation. He is currently serving as a Director of the Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves. Long-time member of MAPS, Jack uses his photos in his teaching, conservation work, and public programs. If you are active on iNaturalist, you may know him as “hazelnutman.” He is currently researching, locating, documenting, and restoring cemetery prairies.

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