Conserving Lands in Farm, Forest, Talus or Prairie (CLIFFTOP)

By Carl and Pen DauBach
Clifftop Steering Committee Co-Coordinators
Clifftop Volunteers Collecting Side Oats
Cliffhanger Volunteers Collecting Side Oats
Photo by Martin Kemper
 

Through the centuries, the Mississippi River bluffs welcomed this region's Amerindian, French, Virginia Territory, and German ancestors.  The ridge of bluffs - with its towering oak-hickory forests, brightened in spring with air-dancing dogwoods, and patchworked with hill prairies ablaze with summer coneflowers and autumn-orange bunch grasses - formed the spine of natural heritage on which the region's social and cultural legacy was built.

The 35 mile corridor, from Columbia to Prairie du Rocher, contains approximately 35,000 acres of mostly contiguous forests and steep karst terrain.  The bluffs host 4,000 acres of designated Illinois Natural Area Inventory sites.  Within the bluffs are nearly half of Illinois' only remaining loess hill prairies, half of Illinois' 102 species of reptiles and amphibians, plentiful healthy game populations, and over a dozen rare plant and animal species. The bluff corridor also is home to 550 landowners and three villages.

To protect and preserve these delicate landscapes, Conservering Lands in Farm, Forest, Talus or Prairie (CLIFFTOP) was formed in 2006 by a group of local landholders in Monroe and Randolph counties.  Clifftop's objectives are fourfold:  to increase public information and awareness about the bluff lands; to foster imporving landholder stewardship efforts and wildlife management practices; helping to implement existing county, state and federal conservation plans and programs; and promoting conservation easements for long-term protection. 

Since it founding Clifftop has hosted two public seminars attended by more than 225 landowners; set up a website; publishes a monthly newsletter article on natural history in the bluff lands; conducts an ongoing natural history survey of the area; and, with volunteers, has assisted local landowners and state agencies with land stewardship efforts.

"CLIFFhangers" - volunteer laborers - are a primary part of Clifftop's land stewardship efforts, and assist local landholders and state and county agencies.  Cliffhangers' volunteer work includes:

  • Helping identify invasive and exotic plant species with onsite visits to local landholders;
  • Assisting local landholders with invasive plant species control;
  • Clearing trails and putting in lines for prescribed burns, cutting brush, and eradicating invasive plants on private and public lands;
  • Conducting and assisting with prescribed burns for local landholders and state agencies.

From late 2006 through early 2008, CLIFFhangers contributed more than 800 hours to land stewardship efforts for local individuals and state agencies.  CLIFFhangers also undertook nearly 300 hours of training for land stewardship practices and licensing. CLIFFhangers work with Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and Illinois Nature Preserves Commission (INPC) to manage 14 sites totaling 2,143 acres and they assist fellow landholders on 27 sites totaling approximately 2,900 acres.

In addition to the often physically challenging tasks of land stewardship, Clifftop volunteers have also provided more than 1,500 hours toward public outreach, including workshops, field trips, and media releases.  Volnteers also have dedicated more than 1,400 hours conducting and compiling natural history surveys which include the establishment of a bio-diversity database, ongoing breeding and migratory bird surveys, and analysing historic land use patterns.

Clifftop partners with a variety of agencies to futher conservation work in Southwestern Illinois.  Working with IDNR, INPC, USDA and a variety of NGOs, Clifftop facilitated planning for local implementation of Illinois' Wildlife Action Plan.  Clifftop also is part of a multi-agency effort led by University of Illinois Extension Service to establish an Illinois Master Naturalist program in Southwestern Illinois, a program that began it's first pilot in September 2008.

The generous VSN grant of prescribed fire suits and radios will keep CLIFFhangers and Clifftop in plain view and in good contact with each other and with thier local comunity as they continue stewadship efforts in the Mississippi River bluffs corrifor, where the view is always grand.