On a cold, snowy Sunday in late March, a University of Illinois at Chicago biologist, backed by a volunteer crew, set fire to dry vegetation on one of the last surviving patches of virgin prairie in the state.
Prairie fire can be as revitalizing as spring rain.
It clears away foreign vegetation, releases nutrients for native plants and opens paths of sunshine to sprouts. Centuries ago, when most of Illinois was tallgrass prairie, racing fires that groomed the land for regeneration were common phenomena. Today, less than 1 percent of the state's land is defined as prairie, and only a fraction of that has escaped alterations through human activity. Nyberg has participated in or supervised more than 20 controlled prairie burns in different locations. Woody, as opposed to grass-stemmed plants, can overwhelm a prairie.