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New
Cook County Restoration Projects Get CorLands Funds
This
spring, the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC)
received a number of grants through the Corporation for
Open Lands (CorLands) to acquire and restore land. These
CorLands funds come from a settlement between the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers and Material Services Corporation for
violations of wetland laws. The Sag Valley project, near
Lemont in southwest Cook County, got $450,000 for the restoration
of approximately 150 acres of natural communities including
dolomite prairie, fen, savanna, and marsh.
The
Sagawau Canyon Addition is a 10-acre acquisition of buffer
land to Sagawau Canyon Nature Preserve. The District had
previously received a 50 percent grant through the Illinois
Department of Nature Resources amounting to $300,000. The
CorLands award will provide the District with much of the
local match required for the estimated $600,000 project.
The preserve includes woodland, oak savanna, a restored
prairie, streams, springs and the rare dolomite limestone
cliffs, bluffs and small caves that make up the canyon.
The
District has begun its Bartel Grassland project in partnership
with the National Audubon Society. CorLands funding amounts
to $357,120 to add 200 acres of prime nesting habitat for
prairie birds to the 100 existing acres. Many grassland
birds require large, continuous, and tree-less tracts to
be able to survive and reproduce successfully. To promote
an optimal environment, hundreds of hedge row trees covering
15 acres will be removed from the Bartel Grassland interior.
Experimental areas will be restored with native prairie
plants specifically chosen for the grassland birds common
to this area.
The
District also received funds toward the restoration of the
930-acre Orland Tract. The tract was farmed for many years
before being acquired in the early ‘70s and partially
planted with trees. A $400,000 grant will support two wetland
enhancements including drain tile investigations, control
of invasives, and seeding with native plants.
The
Bergman Slough project, with $500,000 from CorLands, undertakes
to restore the hydrology and vegetation of 100 acres of
former row crops. Plant communities native to this 250-acre
preserve in the Palos area are sedge meadow, wet and mesic
prairie and savanna.
"We
have tremendous natural wealth in Cook County, and we’re
grateful to CorLands for providing support to help conserve
our irreplaceable native habitats," said Cathy Geraghty,
the FPDCC’s Director of Grant Development.
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