When Doug Wade was organizing the first Northern Illinois Prairie Workshop one of his biggest problems was figuring out how much food to prepare. The year was 1975. Outside of a few prescient spirits like Doug, hardly anybody in Illinois knew what a tallgrass prairie was. It was impossible to predict how many guests would show up for a daylong meeting on the subject of prairies.

The subject matter of all these presentations shows other changes since the early days. At the beginning of the prairie revival, the emphasis was almost entirely on plants. There were very good reasons for this. For one, the discoverers of Illinois’ prairie remnants, people like Floyd Swink of the Morton Arboretum and Robert Betz of Northeastern, were botanists by training or inclination.

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This move toward closer study of prairie and savanna animals is reflected in the program at this year’s workshop. Beetles, birds, butterflies, turtles, salamanders, frogs, ants, grasshoppers, spiders, and snakes are among the creatures whose habits and distribution will be discussed by various speakers.

There are about 20,000 species of ants in the world, and only about half of them have been described by scientists. It is conceivable that you could discover a species new to science in your backyard. DuBois once found a new one in exotic Central Michigan.

Mierzwa has tested his ideas in Will County, where there is no detailed map of presettlement vegetation. He found that his woodland and savanna species are confined to the hilly ground of the Valparaiso Moraine and to the woodlands along the Des Plaines River. South and west of the moraine, where prairie probably dominated, he now finds only prairie species.

You need to register in advance for the workshop. You can do that by calling 869-5966 and leaving your name and address. The workshop’s organizers, the North Branch Prairie Project, will send you the necessary forms along with a workshop program. The cost is $18 for adults and $12 for students, which includes lunch.