• Determine that open-grown oaks are present. (Look for the typical open-grown character.)
• Remove invasive trees (black walnut, elm, etc.) that are crowding the open-grown oaks. This is what is called "daylighting the oaks." Treat all cut stumps with herbicide to prevent resprouting. If there are young oak trees, leave them.
• Remove all invasive brush, such as honeysuckle, buckthorn, prickly ash, gray dogwood, brambles, etc., by cutting. Treat all cut stumps with herbicide. Native shrubs such as hazel and viburnum can be left. They will be top-killed by fire but will resprout. However, leave only scattered native shrubs; a dense shrub layer is undesirable.
• Burn. If there are good oaks present there should be enough fuel on the ground, in the form of oak leaves, to carry a fire.
• Monitor in the first year after the burn to see what comes up. You may be surprised! At Pleasant Valley we find lots of shooting star popping up (see photo below). They were there all along but did not flower because they were too shaded.

At this point, two options are available.

1) Annual burning followed by handplanting with a good mix of savanna understory species. This is the approach we have used at Pleasant Valley Conservancy (there had been no grazing in at least 50 years). Burning followed by seeding must be repeated at least for several years. Since fall planting is usually best, burn in the fall. Burning will eliminate oak leaves and open up the ground so that planted seeds can reach the mineral soil. Plant savanna specialist species, as many kinds as possible. Table of Brian Pruka's list of savanna indicator species. Some species can be planted throughout, but in especially sunny or shady areas plant species better adapted to those habitats. Plant savanna grasses in patches or swaths rather than uniformly throughout. If only small amounts of seeds of certain species are available, plant those in favored locations.

2) If the understory has been recently grazed, there will probably be no desirable understory left. If this is the case, use a heavy herbicide treatment to destroy whatever groundlayer is present and start from scratch. This is the approach that Don Schmidt used in a 5-acre savanna in the Town of Dunn, Dane County, Wisconsin. This is the approach that prairie restorationists use on agricultural land. Depending on topgraphy and other conditions, herbicide treatment might be possible with a tractor-operated boom sprayer. If this is not possible, use a sprayer hose or hand-held boom sprayer connected to an herbicide tank in a truck. An electric or gasoline-powered pump at the tank provides pressure. However, if heavy equipment is used, avoid driving over the roots of the large trees. Make sure the whole understory is sprayed. After spraying, either burn (if there is enough fuel) or rake the area to expose the bare ground before seeding. Use the same savanna species list as in option #1.

Because of the heavy work involved, clearing the savanna is usually a multiple-year job. It should "not" be done by conventional loggers, as they have no appreciation for the delicacy of the woods. There are commercial restoration companies that specialize in restoring savannas. However, even if such a company does the work, the local site manager must monitor the work carefully to be certain that desirable trees are not cut. Unless the manager has considerable experience with and confidence in the contractor, each tree to be cut should be clearly marked. Brush and trees should be removed at the same time. In Wisconsin, the time of year for this work is winter, preferably when there is snow on the ground. With snow present, fire can be used to eliminate brush, small trees, and branches of large trees.

Whether option #1 or #2 is followed will depend on the size of the restoration, the extent of degradation, the funds available, etc. In either case, the critical item is the availability of a good mix of savanna understory species. Don't start a restoration until seeds are available! You need to get the understory started right after clearing, before invasive shrubs or brambles from the seed bank start to fluorish.

Some species may appear the first summer after planting, but others may take four or five years.

It is important to monitor the area being restored frequently, three or four times in a growing season. Mowing or spot spraying may be necessary to knock back undesirable species.

Brian Pruka's List of Savanna Indicator Species

The table below gives a list of savanna indicator species that was developed by Brian Pruka. This is Pruka's Category #1 list, species which are the best indicators of former savannas and open woodlands. "These are species that tend to be limited to partial canopy conditions. In more densely-wooded sites, these species are usually in a state of declining vigor due to the ever-increasing canopy closure. They typically persist in densely-wooded sites only near canopy openings such as woodlot edges, roadsides, or brushed utility corridors." This list was published in the 1995 Midwest Oak Savanna and Woodland Ecosystems Conference, sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruka's paper should be consulted for further detail, and for additional lists. A more detailed list which also includes extensive background on savanna species can be found in Bader, Brian J. 2001. Ecological Restoration 19: 242-250.

Not all these species will be available, but the higher diversity the better. Note that since this list was published, some of the Latin names have been changed, although the common names mostly remain the same.

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