Spring 1999

High quality lake features over 200 plant species, 29 native fish species

McHenry County, Illinois

If you never considered that being bogged down could be a good thing, then you've probably never heard of Elizabeth Lake. Elizabeth Lake Nature Preserve is a diverse wetland jackpot composed of graminoid bog, calcareous floating mat, graminoid fen, marsh, pond, lake, low gradient creek, sedge meadow, and dry-mesic savanna. Graminoid bog is a rare andunusual natural community, considered to be the first stage in bog succession. Always floating above water, often in the vicinity of more open waters, this type of bog is dominated by sphagnum moss, sedges, and marsh shield fen.

Located in the northeastern morainal section of Illinois, Elizabeth Lake is a kettle lake — formed from a leftover chunk of melting glacier.

A dedicated nature preserve of nearly 160 acres with another 13 acres serving as a buffer, Elizabeth Lake is located just north of Richmond in McHenry County at the border of Illinois and Wisconsin. Much of Elizabeth Lake is in Wisconsin and is well used by hunters, fishermen, and recreational boaters.

Wayne Schennum, natural resource manager at the McHenry County Conservation District, contends that the two biggest threats to Elizabeth Lake come from invasive brush and powerboat intrusions. Therefore, conservation efforts are fairly straightforward: keep powerboats away from this delicate portion of Elizabeth Lake and keep the brush under control. In order to keep powerboats away, signs are posted and the area is often patrolled. To keep brush expansion at bay, brush is cut and the stumps treated with herbicide.

Elizabeth Lake is considered to be the highest quality lake in McHenry County (and one of the highest in Illinois). It has 29 species of native fish, at least 200 species of plant life, 55 species of birds, 15-20 butterfly species, and 20 state endangered and state threatened species. Because endangered or rare cuckoo flowers, Iowa darters, pugnose shiners, sandhill cranes, and black terns can all be found within the nature preserve, access to the preserve is restricted to tours sponsored by the McHenry County Conservation District.

For more information and a schedule of guided tours, contact the District at (815) 678-4431.

— Christopher Collier