Much of the Midwest was once covered by prairie, including the land where Chicago now stands. The first thing Bernice Benedict Popelka learned when she became involved in preserving the last virgin land in Cook County was that a prairie isn't simply a grassy field. The unique ecosystem she saved from destruction, the five-acre Peacock Prairie, is home to 150 species of native plants as well as many animals and insects, including the prairie cicada.
Popelka recalls the battle in her book, Saving Peacock Prairie: The Grassroots Campaign to Protect a Wild Urban Prairie. The struggle began in 1965, half a decade before the first Earth Day—a time when the ecological movement as we know it today was in its infancy. In those days, when the rubric of “progress” was the justification for the degradation of nature and the human environment alike, Popelka and her colleagues had to climb uphill against indifference, ignorance and the intransigence of narrow-minded business interests. To cut to the chase: persistence paid off, along with finding one locally powerful figure to support the cause. Saving Peacock Prairie includes useful tips for community organizers.
Bernice Benedict Popelka will give a presentation on her book at 10 a.m., Sept. 18 at the First Unitarian Society of Milwaukee.
