Miracle Under the Oaks: The Revival of Nature in America, by William K. Stevens, Pocket Books, 1995.Tells the story of the birth of ecological restoration, with a focus on Somme Prairie Grove.
In service of the Wild: Restoring and Rehabilitating Damaged Land, by Stephanie Mills. Tells the story of the North Branch Prairie Project and its efforts, including Somme Prairie Grove.
Restoring Oak Ecosystems, by Stephen Packard, Restoration & Management Notes, Volume 11, Number 1, Summer, 1993. Summarizes more than a decade of woodland restoration and responds to critics who recommended a “hands off” approach.
Wildflower Guides
A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and Northcentral North America, Roger Tory Peterson and Margaret McKenny, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1968. Excellent drawings and descriptions. Organized by color.
Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, Lawrence Newcomb, Little Brown and Company, 1989. A key guides you quickly to the right group of plants.
Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers, Douglas Ladd, Falcon, 1995. Excellent photographs of the prairie species and many of the savanna species. Excellent summary of prairie ecology.
Technical References
Plants of the Chicago Region, Floyd Swink and Gerould Wilhelm, Indiana Academy of Science, 1994.
Tallgrass Restoration Handbook: for Prairies, Savannas and Woodlands, Stephen Packard and Cornelia Mutel eds., Island Press, 1997.
Rediscovering the Tallgrass Savannas of Illinois, Proceedings of the Tenth North American Prairie Conference, Denton, Texas, 1986. http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/EcoNatRes/EcoNatRes-idx?type=article&did=EcoNatRes.NAPC10.PackardSavanna&id=EcoNatRes.NAPC10&isize=M
A good summary of the conservation needs of oak woods was published in the Biodiversity Recovery Plan of the Chicago Region Biodiversity Council (Chicago Wilderness). More detail can be found in the Conservation of Wooded Lands in the Chicago Wilderness Region: A Model Policy, also published by Chicago wilderness. As detailed in these publications, the principal threats to the oak woodlands are fire suppression, invasive species, and over-browsing by white-tailed deer.
Your Guide to the Somme Preserves 