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Miracle Under the Oaks
A discussion of the growing prairie and savanna restoration movement in Illinois and a view of the work of Steve Packard, a major force in the grassroots restoration movement.
322 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 10, 2016
The discovery of the Oak Savanna in Chicago ought to be a major story in the environmental movement and a fundamental myth of the restoration ecology community. But it took me nearly a year of research into restoration (inspired by an agricultural system modeled after oak savannas, mind you: Restoration Agriculture) to find this book and learn what oak savannas even are. The restoration materials I've found all focus on prairies as the true territory of eco-centric restoration (wetlands, forests, and mine projects are impure seconds due to their corruption by legal requirements, corporate firms, and non-native species). I was literally trying to figure out how to design a landscape to mimic savannas without asking the questions that would yield actual descriptions of savannas. The numbers I was seeing in The Vegetation of Wisconsin were unhelpful to non-sensical, and I couldn't find species in the prairie nursery catalogs that weren't clearly prairie or woodland species. Even books by Steves Packard (the star of this book) and Apfelbaum (another major savanna restoration figure) focused on prairies and neglected to mention the story of the oak savanna even in passing.
Seems like a shame, because it's actually a fascinating case study of the role restoration can play in human relationships with nature. Depending on how post-modern you want to get, Packard either discovered or created an ecological assemblage that was defined off the maps in earlier schemas. The community was made so rare by habitat destruction, and more importantly was so often degraded beyond simple recognition that it was just shy of extinction until Packard and his team brought a name to it. Packard's practical work on his degraded sites created a new hypothesis for the scientific community and offered what are at least substantial pilot studies on the question of oak savanna communities (the Curtis-inspired academic establishment believed savannas were simply the intersection of forest and prairie, with plants from each depending on the degree of forest cover). It's a substantial contribution to scientific knowledge from practical restoration.
Miracle under the Oaks is nothing more than a serviceable telling of the discovery of the oak savannas. It gives a bio of Packard and a history of the Volunteer Stewardship Network and The Nature Conservancy groups he worked with on the project. The big value of the book was just learning about the story itself: the basic details of what happened, how it was conceptualized at the time, how the restoration and scientific communities responded. It set me on the right track in researching actual oak savanna ecology as a model for perennial agriculture systems, which is a priceless boon for my future studies.
The thing I can't help but wonder now is what exactly it was that Mark Shepard was looking at when he designed New Forest Farm. After all, that was around the same time Packard was causing a big stir. He could easily have overlooked the whole new paradigm, or it could have been a key influence. He doesn't cite a single relevant source in the book, so it's impossible to know. And of course, the science has hopefully come a long way since then, and following that thread is my task for now.
Seems like a shame, because it's actually a fascinating case study of the role restoration can play in human relationships with nature. Depending on how post-modern you want to get, Packard either discovered or created an ecological assemblage that was defined off the maps in earlier schemas. The community was made so rare by habitat destruction, and more importantly was so often degraded beyond simple recognition that it was just shy of extinction until Packard and his team brought a name to it. Packard's practical work on his degraded sites created a new hypothesis for the scientific community and offered what are at least substantial pilot studies on the question of oak savanna communities (the Curtis-inspired academic establishment believed savannas were simply the intersection of forest and prairie, with plants from each depending on the degree of forest cover). It's a substantial contribution to scientific knowledge from practical restoration.
Miracle under the Oaks is nothing more than a serviceable telling of the discovery of the oak savannas. It gives a bio of Packard and a history of the Volunteer Stewardship Network and The Nature Conservancy groups he worked with on the project. The big value of the book was just learning about the story itself: the basic details of what happened, how it was conceptualized at the time, how the restoration and scientific communities responded. It set me on the right track in researching actual oak savanna ecology as a model for perennial agriculture systems, which is a priceless boon for my future studies.
The thing I can't help but wonder now is what exactly it was that Mark Shepard was looking at when he designed New Forest Farm. After all, that was around the same time Packard was causing a big stir. He could easily have overlooked the whole new paradigm, or it could have been a key influence. He doesn't cite a single relevant source in the book, so it's impossible to know. And of course, the science has hopefully come a long way since then, and following that thread is my task for now.
August 11, 2008
This book hits close to home...it describes in great detail the beginning of the North Branch Restoration Project, of which I am a member and site steward. Along the North Branch of the Chicago River, in the north suburbs, there is a string of forest preserves that have been adopted by local nature aficionados. Over the last 30 or so years, these stewards have learned much about ecological restoration through trial and error, and have managed to restore health to sites that were previously fly-dumping areas and overgrown with invasive species. This book narrates the story of these restoration pioneers and demonstrates how the prairies and savannas of Chicagoland can be brought back to life.
June 22, 2024
An interesting narrative of the restoration and study of savannah preserves near Chicago. It did seem like the book was stretched out a bit, could have been shorter and tighter. It got kind of lost in the middle. And a lot was more about the politics of the restoration movement(s) rather than the actual restoration and research itself, which I found less interesting.
September 20, 2011
An excellent piece of book-length journalism on one of my favorite topics - ecological restoration. Tells the story of the beginning of what could be a very helpful movement in our culture's relationship with nature. The biggest complaint I have is only because I read the book 17 years too late - I am really curious about what has happened since, but there's a lot to say for being inspired to look into it.
That said, this book is still very much worth a read. It is a great description of an important environmental project and a good place to start exploring restoration.
That said, this book is still very much worth a read. It is a great description of an important environmental project and a good place to start exploring restoration.
February 9, 2012
While Stevens often gets wrapped up in the mind-boggling (and -numbing) bureaucratic wranglings of The Nature Conservancy and The North Branch Project, Miracle Under the Oaks is energized by his fluid recounting of Steve Packard's unique and savvy vision, his ability to market a natural, ecologically sound landscape to government agencies and common people. Treehuggers everywhere could learn a lesson in public relations from him.
July 28, 2014
Much better than I expected. If I weren't a prairie/savanna restoration intern right now (at Faville Grove Sanctuary), it probably wouldn't have been as enjoyable. Still, quality writing focused on the people and landscape involved- not too bogged down in species specifics. Haha- not bogged down, because there were no bogs in the restoration projects.
July 4, 2008
Very interesting to me since I worked on a prairie crew in 1990-91 at Poplar Creek and intend to do so again very soon.
July 27, 2011
Insipring. Info on early organized restoration in Chicago wilderness area.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews