A partnership of volunteers has been instrucmental in recovery efforts for the eastern prairie fringed orchid. USFWS photo by Mike Redmer

The Chicago Field Office celebrated the partnerships that are working to recover the eastern prairie fringed orchid at an April event to recognize the efforts and accomplishments of members of the Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid Volunteer Stewardship Network. Over 60 volunteers, species experts, landowners and resource professionals participated in the event, held at the Chicago Botanic Garden.  In addition to volunteer recognition, attendees listened to presentations and participated in a roundtable discussion on data collection methods and procedures.  This event was not only informative but celebrated the commitment and diligence of the volunteers that play a major role in the recovery of the orchid recovery in Illinois.

In 1992, the Chicago office started a volunteer stewardship program to assist in the recovery of the eastern prairie fringed orchid in Illinois.  The volunteers who work on eastern prairie fringed orchid recovery are extremely committed and diligent.  The network quickly grew to include 60 volunteers and has remained stable over the years with very little turnover.  Originally the volunteers counted the number of plants in each population and hand-pollinated the flowers of the orchid to increase seed production.  Over the years more has been asked of the volunteers and they have delivered.  The additional work the volunteers do now includes collecting census and demographic information.  This data is collected annualy and is shared with species experts who use it to learn more about the orchid’s life history and to track the species' status.

In addition to the efforts of the volunteers, the orchid program continues to be strong due to the commitment of landowners, some of whom are also volunteers.  State, county, municipal, residential, and corporate landowners have helped with recovery of the orchid in Illinois by allowing access and managing habitat on their property, and even sharing the cost of completing recovery tasks.  Volunteers have collected eastern prairie fringed orchid seeds from healthy populations on private lands.  These seeds have been scattered on protected sites in efforts to establish additional populations needed for recovery of the species.