The Need for a Forestry Mower

​Contact Middle Rock Conservation Partners: middlerockcp@gmail.com

Download Appeal Letter pdf

• View (only) Appeal Letter below on SCRIBD:

The following photograph slides show the need for a forestry mower in Ogle and Lee Counties . . .

Testimonials

Bill Kleiman
Project Director,  Nachusa Grasslands, TNC

"​To bring health to all the natural areas in the Rock River area we need brush thinning and fire.  We can’t have one without the other.  The brush thinning gets us to a place where fire can sustainably maintain landscape health."

Russell Blog
IDNR Natural Heritage Biologist

"​The need is great.  Invasive woody species are rapidly spreading in our natural areas and it's difficult to keep up.  A dedicated forestry mower will help us effectively manage invasive brush and allow us to restore important natural areas in Lee and Ogle Counties."

Todd Tucker
Executive Director, Byron Forest Preserve District

"The impact of this regions natural areas for managers having access to a large-scale forestry mower would make restoration efforts soar leap years ahead compared to the more conventional way of doing things.  We as good land stewards must keep challenging our practices to become more effective, efficient and progressive.  We owe it to all the flora and fauna we so desperately seek to keep and hopefully regain a stronghold on this once abundantly rich natural resource that was once a part of the Grand Prairie Region." 

Austin Webb
President, MRCP

"​Brush encroachment is one of the biggest problems natural area managers face in our area.  Left alone, habitats quickly lose biodiversity as invasive shrubs steal sunlight and other resources from native plants.  To keep pace with the spread of brush requires intensive management, and in my experience, forestry mowing is the most effective way to control it.  Today, forestry mowers are a staple piece of equipment for restoration professionals."

Bryon Walters
Conservation Contractor

​For nearly four decades, our grass roots restoration ecologists and land managers have made a respectable impact on restoring our northern Illinois prairies, wetlands and forests. This work was performed primarily by hand tools. Chain saws, brush cutters, loppers and shears. There will always be a need for hand tool work. We now have the opportunity to take restoration to the next level. Significant, wholesale, landscape sized removal of exotic and invasive vegetation. This next decade will be defined by the impact we have from the use of this forestry mower. I’m all in! Let’s roll!"

Debra Carey
Illinois Audubon Society

"​January 2019 — A contracted forestry mower consumed a dark, tangled expanse of invasive buckthorn and honeysuckle around Geranium Pool at Amboy Marsh.
​
May 2019 — Swamp saxifrage, marsh shield fern, Culver’s Root and Indian Plantain emerged into the sunlight around Geranium Pool. Voila! Remove invasives, add sunlight and native species emerge as if by magic from the underlying matrix. No seeding, no planting — all it took was removing woody invasives with the forestry mower. Give nature a chance!"

Cody Considine
Deputy Director,  Nachusa Grasslands, TNC

"When a construction contractor begins a large project, they don't show up with hand tools. They have large sophisticated equipment to complete the project. Much like a construction project, natural areas restoration needs large sophisticated equipment like the FTX200. This machine will meet the needs and energy of the Middle Rock Conservation Partners who are willing to spend thousands of hours operating this equipment to restore our beloved natural areas. To put it simply, we will fail without the tools we need to get the job done!"

This video shows the impact this tool (FTX200 Mulching Tractor) could have on our tree and shrub removal efforts.