Calumet City is home to a special gem — a site where sand dunes, savannas, prairies and wetlands lined the shore of what once was an ancient lake that dates back thousands of years. Today, the site provides a habitat for rare plants, animals and other wildlife.

It’s a place for people, too. For nature enthusiast LaTonya Jones, Superior Street Prairie is calming.

“It draws you in,” she said. “You don’t have an explanation for it. I find myself walking along some trail. It’s like a magnet. It’s a peaceful place. You feel so at ease. When you’re out there and the wind is blowing over the trees, standing out there and looking at the open land. It’s so beautiful.”

But this special place is under serious threat, and volunteers are being sought to help maintain the unique ecosystem there — an ecosystem that benefits us all.

Although Superior Street Prairie is protected in perpetuity for the rare and irreplaceable habitat it provides, invasive species, brush and other forms of degradation put the site at risk, explains Jonathan Sabath. He is the Northeast Illinois field representative with Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves.

The site, about 30 acres that are part of a larger site of roughly 100 acres, is along Superior Street in Calumet City, south of Thornton Fractional North High School. It is separated from the Cook County Forest Preserve District’s Sand Ridge Nature Preserve by the Burnham Greenway, a former railroad right-of-way owned by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and a sand prairie owned and managed by ComEd.

To help muster support for the site, Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves will hold a kickoff event in Calumet City this month to solicit more volunteers and expose community members to this ecological jewel. The event is being supported by the Calumet City Memorial Park District, the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, Need an Angel Sons and Daughters Association and other organizations.

Staff of the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission are spread thin and need help to keep up with all the needs at nature preserves throughout the state.

“There are over 600 nature preserves in Illinois,” Sabath said. “There’s something like nine staff for the entire state. You can be the most dedicated hardworking person in the world, but if you have over 100 places — some of which are thousands of acres — that you are tasked with caring for, monitoring and performing ecological work, there’s no way one staff person can do everything to keep on top of all the work that needs to be done.”

Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves was launched in 2020. Its mission is to support the Illinois Nature Preserves System by advocating for and finding increased support, resources, funding and staff for the system and assisting local volunteer communities as they help restore and care for their Illinois biodiversity reserves, according to the group’s website.

There is a vested interest for us all in helping maintain these sites, Sabath said. When storms flood streets, the swales — shallow, broad and vegetated channels — of Superior Street soak up water that could otherwise flood basements and sewage systems, he explained. Birds and pollinators that help us grow our food and control agricultural pests rely on such habitats, but their numbers fall when the health of ecosystems aren’t preserved, he noted.

Those working to help preserve and restore Superior Street Prairie say many unique plants and animals depend on it — including, at one time, rare orchids, carnivorous plants, birds and butterflies, some of which haven’t been seen in years. Volunteers might make the difference for existing species there and for other species to return and thrive.

“Our goal with this event is to invite everyone into a new group of volunteers,” Sabath said. “Everyone is invited to come out and get a taste of the work, to find out what the work is like, to get involved, hear what the needs of the site are. There will be snacks and food. We are looking for a core group of people that are going to fall in love with this work.”

No experience or knowledge is necessary. Volunteers will have the opportunity to learn together what’s needed and build their expertise.

Jones, who is helping organize the upcoming event and who enjoys gardening, hiking and camping with her family, has been volunteering at Superior Street Prairie for a little less than a year. She first learned about the protected site when she attended an information session held at a Calumet City library.

“I had never been to the site,” Jones said. “I never knew that space was over there. I learned it’s a public space and anybody is welcome.”

She volunteers at the site now about once a month with three or four other people.

“We collect seeds, identify invasive species that have grown,” she shared. “We clear that out by way of cutting and chopping. We do burn breaks. When I first started, they were cutting down and clearing out some of the sassafras trees, so when the seasons come it could make way for new growth. We pick seeds and plant them in other areas where there’s not a lot of growth.”

Jones said she hopes the prairie volunteer project will attract people who care about the planet and the green space that is here.

Beersheba Abernathy, a resident of the South Side of Chicago who is a lead steward and helping with the event, became involved with the prairie about a year ago. She is the founder of Need an Angel Sons and Daughters Association, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that works to empower and connect youth and young adults through education, health and wellness and social and emotional support programs. Abernathy and roughly a dozen youth have volunteered at Superior Street Prairie at various times since last year, she said.

“We need to let the community know what’s happening here,” she said, adding we all need to recognize the role we play in our ecosystems, how they work and the positive difference we can make.

“Just giving a little bit of attention to an area like that can do so much,” said Abernathy. “When we restore it, there’s so much to gain.”

Volunteers will be able to look back over the years and recognize the valuable role they played in preserving and maintaining these natural treasures, she said.

The volunteer recruitment event is from 2 to 5 p.m. Oct. 13. Participants are asked to gather at the Com-Ed right of way east of Campbell Ave on Michigan City Road anue nd to come dressed for the wilderness and the weather. Parking will be available there or on Campbell Avenue. More information is available through email at superiorstreet@friendsilnature.org.

Francine Knowles is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.