News

McHenry County Secures 1,479 Acres

The McHenry County Conservation District (MCCD) has used funds from its successful 2007 referendum to acquire 1,479 acres over the last 14 months. The acquisitions add significant fen and woodland sites to its holdings, bringing the district's total acreage to 22,269.

Among the best new sites are 57.6 acres of quality fen that have been added to the Fel-Pro RRR preserve. A 152-foot-wide easement from Commonwealth Edison runs between the fen and the existing acreage, providing an essential corridor for plants and animals.

A new 150-acre site has been added to the Bystricky Prairie, an Illinois State Nature Preserve, to create the Queen Anne Prairie Conservation Area. Originally called Slough Creek, the new area is an Illinois Natural Areas Inventory site, and contains both a graminoid and tall shrub fen. A more extensive inventory is now uncovering the extent of its riches.

Three separate purchases have added over 60 acres of prime woodland to Rush Creek Conservation Area. Rush Creek is a solid white and bur oak woodland, having lost its hickory trees to rifle stock production during World War I. The new acreage is more heavily wooded with white and red oaks and offers a spectacular display of spring flowers. MCCD Natural Resources Manager Ed Collins is enthusiastic about the property, saying that it is the "nicest spring woodlands I've walked in 20 years." It is the last tract of mature timber to be acquired; with its purchase, all existing old growth woodlands in McHenry County are now protected.

Collins says that these acquisitions "protect some of the most outstanding remaining examples of the region's natural heritage. From rare white oak woodlands in rural northwestern McHenry County to spring-fed alkaline wetlands in the densely populated areas, these dollars are being used to preserve a legacy for this and the next generation of county residents."

—Elizabeth Riotto