Tucked away in Cary are three separate areas of a rare ecosystem created by melting glaciers tens of thousands of years ago called the gravel hill prairies.

These dry grasslands are home to many uncommon, threatened and endangered species that volunteers are trying to ensure won’t vanish due to invasive species taking over the land.

“They’re really rocky, gravely, dry areas that only a few particular types of plants could survive,” Cary Park District Planning and Development Director David Raica said. “It’s a pretty unique environment.”

Ever since the Cary Park District was formed in the 1970s, it has been a mission to preserve open land, including three old-growth gravel prairies: Sands East Main Street, Hillside and Water Tower prairies.

Now a group of volunteers, known as the Cary Prairie Stewards, have teamed up with the Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves to kick off a season of ecological restoration at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 11 at the Sands East Main Street Prairie, located at 1188 E. Main St.

The stewards are asking anyone interested in helping restore the prairies to participate, and no prior environmental experience is needed. They will focus on collecting seeds of native plants while clearing out invasive species, Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves Field Representative Stone Hansard said.

The nonprofit teamed up with local volunteers who have been monitoring endangered species in the prairies.

“These places are extremely special, and they deserve all of the help that they can get,” Hansard said.

The Cary Park District acquired Sands East Main Street Prairie in 1990 from a combination of state funds, grants and donation from the Sands family. It is about 64 acres of “high quality dry gravel hill prairie, recognized by some ecologists as one of the most pristine prairies in McHenry County,” according to the Cary Park District website. The land was dedicated as an Illinois Nature Preserve in 1991.

“Our goal is to maintain its pre-settlement condition so that the view will remain the same for future generations and will date back to the time of the Native Americans who first saw it,” Cary Park District staff say on its website.

Sands East Main Street Prairie was originally home to the Wallace-Price Farm, where an old dairy barn built circa 1900 still stands, according to the park district. A lot of the areas were mined in the early 1900s because of a plethora of minerals in the land. It is believed some minerals from the prairie were used to build the old Village Hall building, Raica said.

In 1992, there were about 148 acres of gravel prairies in Illinois, according to the IDNR. Rare plants that are found in these ecosystems include prairie buttercup, purple coneflower, rattlesnake master and sand milkweed. The vesper sparrow, savanna sparrow, grasshopper sparrow and sedge wren all call the grassland home.

“I really call it a living museum because you are preserving something that has been around for hundreds and hundreds of years, and our hope is that it will continue many generations into the future,” Raica said.

Another gravel hill prairie found in McHenry County is the Lake in the Hills Fen Nature Preserve, according to the IDNR.

Hansard envisions the stewards growing into a restoration community where the volunteers become local experts on the land they’re caring for, he said.

“These prairies need management in perpetuity,” he said. “I’ve seen what happens when a place goes unmanaged for a couple of decades, and they can really just disappear completely.”

In order to prevent that, the prairies need the help of consistent controlled fires. The park district has played a vital role in maintaining controlled burns, one of the biggest factors contributing to the survival of the prairie lands, Hansard said.

“Prairies really need people, and they always have,” he said.

Raica, who has been at the park district for more than 30 years, has seen over that time an “ebb and flow” with volunteerism involving taking care of the park district’s open spaces. Now with the Cary Prairie Stewards, he’s seeing a “newer generation” getting interested in helping.

Volunteers can see the impact they make on the land in a few hours by helping to clear bush and invasive species.

“People desperately want to be involved in something where they tangibly see a difference,” Raica said.

To help out on Saturday, the stewards recommend volunteers wear sturdy shoes and clothes appropriate for the weather. No experience is necessary, as veteran volunteers will show what’s involved.

Learn more at friendsofillinoisnaturepreserves.org or by emailing the stewards at caryprairies@gmail.com.

“Try to get out in these natural spaces,” Raica said. “Take a walk in nature. It’s good for you, and look for opportunities to help out where you can.”