Into the Wild

Berkeley Prairie

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Lake County, IL

Berkeley Prairie is an 18-acre remnant of natural land that narrowly escaped development in the 1960s. An oasis in a residential part of Highland Park, its diversity is eye-popping.

More than 180 native species can be seen at this site from the mowed trail that winds around the prairie. Buckthorn grows in a tangle at places along the riverside woodland edges but not in the prairie or under the majestic oaks in the savanna to the south. The most pressing concern for viability of a small prairie — invasive species — is under control at Berkeley for now. Yet the small, planted oaks in cages are one sign that a deer overpopulation poses challenges to the goal of sustaining the site’s savanna.

Site steward Chris Wren is happy to talk about his eight years at the prairie. A passionate volunteer, he enjoys the friendships he’s made working with a small core group of volunteers. Together, they make a huge difference in maintaining this high-quality natural area. They clear brush, collect and sow seeds, monitor plant species, and assist in prescribed burns. Fire is vital to the work — a portion of the preserve is burned nearly every year. Wren admits that the small size of the site makes it feasible for his small group of volunteers to focus and keep up with the work.

Early land use history is sketchy, according to Nick Huber, ecologist for Lake County Forest Preserves, but portions of the site may have been used for pasture, hay, and crop production at different times. In Huber’s opinion, “savanna was the predominant community, with abundant prairie habitat between the oak groves and individual trees scattered about.” The West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River flows south and west of Berkeley Prairie and provides a wildlife corridor to Prairie Wolf Slough Forest Preserve upstream. Local residents and business leaders purchased the land for The Nature Conservancy, which eventually rolled the site out to the Lake County Forest Preserves in 1968. Neighbors Jim and Gee Cunningham, who raised their family in a beautiful converted horse barn overlooking the prairie, were involved in the effort to save the prairie from development. Jim proudly shows off his collection of prairie plant photos taken at Berkeley Prairie over the years.

Small is beautiful! With a new site on my list of places to walk, I can’t wait to see the trilliums, wild hyacinth, and other ephemerals in the savanna, or the bastard toadflax, wood sandwort, Turk”s cap lilies, and pale spiked lobelia as they take their turn to bloom through the coming seasons.

— Jeff Weiss