Several native planting projects are championed by student and community groups including Grand Prairie Friends, Red Bison, Students for Environmental Concerns, Allerton Allies, East Central Illinois Master Naturalists and the Student Sustainability Committee.

A prairie at the conjunction of Florida Avenue and Orchard Street, adjacent to the University of Illinois President’s House, is one of the major projects of the Student Sustainability Project. The native plantings in this field were established in 2012, with the help of Pizzo and Associates, UI Facilities and Services and community volunteers.

The Natual Resources Building is the site of another native species planting project, both in front of the building and behind it on Pennsylvania Avenue. The front of the building is home to five plots of woodland wildflowers. Fifteen plant species are present in the plot behind the building, which was formerly covered in mulch. Many of these species are insect pollinators. Monarch butterfly larvae have been spotted at the plot. Staff and student volunteers from the Prairie Research Institute maintain the plots at the Natural Resources Building.

Woodland wildflowers provided by Facilities & Services, along with plants provided from Student Sustainability Committee funding, were planted at Burrill Hall by faculty volunteers. Twenty species were planted at this location.

Another native plant project at the University is adding diversity of the Allerton Park Prairie. Student volunteers and Allerton Allies cleared four circular plots and planted forb seedlings. These plantings were well established by the fall of 2012.

To fully establish the above projects, volunteers are still needed. Contact John Marlin, coordinator of much of the volunteer activity at these sites, at (217) 649-4591 or jcmarlin@sbcglobal.net if you are interested in volunteering.