|
Summer
2000
Work
parties are needed to help clear invasive brush in this
collection of natural communities, including prairie, sand
savanna, sedge meadow, marsh, and sand ponds
 |
 |
| Will
County, Illinois |
The
260-acre nature preserve at Hitts Siding offers a mosaic
of natural communities, including prairie, sand savanna,
sedge meadow, marsh, and sand ponds. The diversity of habitats
on the site allows it to support more than 300 native plant
species and a variety of wildlife, including pocket gophers
and 19 species of reptiles and amphibians. Seven of the
species known to breed on the site (two insects, one turtle,
one bird, and three plants) are on the Illinois list of
endangered and threatened species. Reports of several other
threatened species are unconfirmed.
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DIRECTIONS
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From
Wilmington, follow Rte. 53 west to Strip Mine Rd. At
this intersection, Rte. 53 veers southwest while Strip
Mine Rd. continues west. The nature preserve is about
a half-mile down Rte. 53 on the west side and is marked
only with small signs. Parking is in a grassy area that
may or may not be mowed. |
The
Kankakee Torrent, an immense flood of meltwater from the
Wisconsinan glaciation, swept over this land about 15,500
years ago and left behind the sandy outwash on which the
nature preserve sits. It is part of the Prairie Parklands
planning area and near Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.
The
Illinois Natural Areas Inventory identified Hitts Siding
as an area of statewide significance in 1976. The Illinois
Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) acquired the land
in 1994 and dedicated it as a nature preserve in 1996.
While
part of the area was mined for sand 40 or more years ago,
leaving behind today’s sand ponds, an accident of geology
left most of Hitts Siding largely undisturbed. A coal seam
just to the west of the natural area was strip-mined, but
the seam heads down at an angle, making it too deep for
strip-mining here.
Today
the nature preserve is maintained and improved by IDNR staff
and volunteers. Brush was encroaching on the site when IDNR
acquired it, leaving the habitat too fragmented for nesting
grassland birds. However, as the invasive brush is cleared
and burned, Bill Glass of IDNR expects to see these birds
return.
Workdays
at the site are organized through Midewin National Tallgrass
Prairie. For more information, call (815) 423-6370.
–
Barbara Hill
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2008 Chicago Wilderness Magazine, Inc.
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