Evanston Fire Station #3 Prairie Path Establishment

Zachary Cascarano is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Hello, my name is Zach Cascarano. I am a firefighter with Evanston Fire Department at Station #3, located at 1105 Central Street.

If you've been through our section of town, you've likely seen the overgrown snaggle of invasive buckthorn trees, honeysuckle, and garbage along our stretch of the North Shore Channel. The growth of non-native buckthorn chokes out all of the native vegetation chemically and with shallow net roots, which severely reduces wildlife habitat and diversity in areas where it has taken over as it is not a viable food source for birds and the like.

The area next to this firehouse has been a sorry wasteland for years. However, thanks to the volunteer efforts of the local Canal Shores Lumberjacks (who have been hard at working cutting 3.3 miles of trails in alongside the Channel, planting natives and improving habitat all along the way) as well as the efforts of our firefighters, we have clear-cut and burned the invasive growth and made room to reintroduce native prairie grasses, wildflowers and shrubs to provide habitat and sustenance for local wildlife and create a beautiful green space within the city, while hopefully curbing slope erosion over time as well.

The funds raised for this project will go to pay for the acre-plus of wildflower and grass seed, the straw covering for seed germination, as well as several hundred prairie plant plugs that will allow the meadow to establish far faster and outcompete the buckthorn seedlings, which are fast-growing and plentiful. Any extra funds will go to purchasing additional native plants to assist in a faster establishment of native flora.