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What's New with the Natural Resource Management Department
March 8, 2010
North Branch Powell
Work is nearing completion on this fen and prairie restoration project. Invasive brush has been removed along Broadway Street opening up a mile long vista across the floodplain of the North Branch of Nippersink Creek, stretching into Wisconsin. Initial seeding of wildflowers and prairie grasses have occurred on the flatter portions of the site with more work to follow this spring in the hanging fens along Broadway Street.
Over the next three weeks, chip piles will be removed from the site and more debris and garbage, dumped on the site over the past 30 years, will be removed now that it can be reached by work crews.
High Point Conservation Area
An "extinct" ephemeral pond received a new face lift the first week of March at the High Point Conservation Area in Alden. District staff removed tiles to restore the site's original hydrology two years ago and replanted native species around the site of what had once been an ephemeral or "springtime" pond.
Unfortunately years of erosion had destroyed one of the small hills that formed the eastern edge of the depressional kettle that once filled with water each spring. As a result the pond no longer "ponded". District staff recreated that small hill using several loads of gravel and appropriate topsoil.
This next growing season should see a brand new "old" pond back in place at the High Point site.
Goose Lake Conservation Area
District staff will be working with a contractor to remove invasive brush and old fence lines from the northwest corner of Goose Lake, a state and county recognized natural area located east of the town of Hebron along route 173.
Goose Lake has an interesting past serving as a hunting area for many decades and also belonging to an agricultural drainage district at the same time. As with all wetland restoration work undertaken by the District, the Goose Lake Project must be analyzed extensively to insure that no negative impacts related to drainage will occur off site on private lands.
The brush clearing project will remove exotic species that have become established in the marsh area as well as along the Hebron Trail. When completed trail users should have a wonderful view of the marsh and the wildlife that calls it home. No changes to the site's hydrology will occur.
Recent Discoveries
Rare Gold-eye Lichen Discovered
In late February, contract lichenologst, Rich Hyerczyk discovered a rare lichen that has never been seen in McHenry County before. It is Teloschistes chrysophthalmus, the gold-eye lichen. It is a deep-orange, shrubby shaped lichen and is found on the branches of trees and shrubs.
This lichen was known from Cook and Will Counties in 1896 by Calkins. It hadn't been found again until two years ago in Will County by our contract lichenologist, Rich Hyerczyk. More recently, it has been discovered in DuPage County by Wayne Lampa and Scott Kobal.
Before NRM started surveying District sites for lichens, 59 species were known to McHenry County. To date, we are up to 105 species! It just goes to show that rare discoveries may still be found on District sites; we just have to look at the small and unnoticeable
Rare Lead Plant Moth discovered at Glacial Park
Thanks to the efforts of Laurie Boldt, MCCD Plant Ecologist and Cathy Pollack of the USFWS Service, a rare prairie moth has been discovered at Glacial Park. The species the leadplant flower moth feeds on the native prairie legume lad plant and is considered extremely rare in Illinois.
General Organization of the Natural Resource Management Department
The Natural Resource Management Department is divided into six major internal sections, each focusing on one or more major areas of concentration within the larger department. The NRM Department in turn focuses on its role within the larger mission of the District as an organization.
These six sections include (for more information, click on the department section):
Current Restoration Projects
Piscasaw North, Harvard – Wetland Mitigation Projects – A brush removal project is currently underway near Maxon Road north of the City of Harvard. Along the west side of the road near the parking lot, invasive brush is being removed from wetland areas - the species involved are either exotic, originating on another continent and introduced to the United States where they have no natural controls, or aggressive quick spreading species that have overtaken large areas of the site and reduced the biological diversity and wildlife habitat quality for the site due to the dense shading they cause. These include European buckthorn, Asian honeysuckle, Asian bittersweet, autumn olive, Japanese rose, box elder and green ash.
On the east side of Maxon Road, the same type of brush removal and similar species are being removed. The project is the result of impacts to wetlands caused by the Illinois Department of Transportation during the reconstruction of the Route 173 bridge. Since the impacts were to public lands the District partnered with IDOT to insure that mitigation funds for wetland re-creation were used on public lands.
In both cases, the area will be reseeded with native wildflowers, grasses and sedges that are colorful, deep-rooted and have high value to local wildlife species. While the initial brush removal on the site is often drastic visually, as the native species germinate and take hold, the result is a much healthier, sustainable and resilient ecosystem.
Monteloma Springs Wetland Restoration
The North Branch Conservation Area is home to some of the most precious natural resources in McHenry County. Large populations of breeding grassland birds, in precipitous decline across much of the Midwest, can be found here as can McHenry County’s highest quality stream, the North Branch of Nippersink Creek. The creek is home to the most diverse mussel beds in the county and supports many silt intolerant fish species as well. It is also the connecting link between McHenry County’s Prairie Trail and the Hebron Trail, providing hikers, snowmobilers and bike enthusiasts with access to miles of trails.
On the extreme southwest portion of the site groundwater discharges in the form of seeps and springs from a northeast facing slope along Broadway Street. These fens melded into a wide expanse of tall grass prairie dotted with small oak groves and stretching northward into Wisconsin. Over the decades since settlement these prairies have disappeared and the springs along Broadway Street have been shunted into small catch basin ponds and drain tile fields. Named for the original name of the nearby Village of Richmond, the Monteloma Springs Wetland Restoration Project will re-create these original natural communities on lands recently acquired by the District.
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For many years illegal dumping has been a problem on this site. The groundwater fed fens located on the down slope along the north side of Broadway Street are a convenient target for “fly” dumping. Washing machines, water heaters and other household items have accumulated over the past 25 years, prior to the purchase of the site by the District. |
Even today illegal dumping can occur. This pile of rubbish was left within the past year on the west side of the property. |
A grant of $52,000 will allow the District to fund the Monteloma Springs Project this coming fall. Invasive brush will be removed from the site along Broadway Street in November of 2009. The catch basin ponds and tile lines will be removed as well allowing the groundwater to once again percolate through sand and gravel lenses in the soil to recreate the site’s original fens. Fens are wetland communities whose plants can survive in high PH alkaline rich water that picks up that alkalinity from surrounding limestone gravel. The existing farm field and the fen areas will be restored to appropriate native plant communities.
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Once a stunning vista swept north from Broadway Street across rolling hills covered with native prairie and dotted with small oak groves. Today this viewshed is covered by invasive brush that has become established over the past 25 years. The Monteloma Springs Wetland Restoration Project will re-create these vistas by removing exotic brush like European buckthorn and Asian honeysuckle. |
An abandoned cooling bath for milk cans pays silent testimony to bygone farming days when the hillside spring water was used to keep milk cool until it could be picked up for market. |
The project kicks off with a massive site cleanup to remove decades of illegal garbage dumped from Broadway Street, down slope into the wetland areas. Local community groups have been invited to participate in the cleanup on September 26, 2009 as part of National Public Lands Day.
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Matt Eyles, Region 1 Restoration Technician poses with a full dumpster of trash cleaned up as part of National Public Lands Day at the Monteloma Springs Wetland Project. |
Cleanup begins on the Monteloma Springs Wetland Restoration Project. District staff members Matt Eyles. John Aavang and Russ Rogers sort through decades of accumulated garbage. Recyclable materials such as tires are sorted out for further processing. |
Small Waters Wetland Restoration
Near the small crossroads village of Alden, Nippersink Creek rises from the waters of Mud Lake and begins its eastward journey to the Chain-O-Lakes. Just east of the lake outlet a vast marsh once existed covering nearly 1,000 acres of lowlands. Historically, the creek meandered slowly through this large wetland eventually crossing under Route 173 and entering Bailey’s Grove (now the Winding Creek Conservation Area). The former KD rail line traversed the edges of the wetland on its route into Alden and Harvard. Today, nearly all of this vast marsh has been converted into productive farmland.
A recent 2007 bond purchase will allow the District to restore a small portion of this wetland without impacting surrounding private lands. A 35 acre former crop field will undergo tile removal and replanting to native vegetation in 2010 thanks to a grant from the Northeastern Illinois Wetland Conservation program. The District received $42,000 in funding to purchase seed and remove invasive brush from the site as well as to remove several field tiles currently draining the area.
This particular field was removed from production by the former owners prior to the District acquiring the land due to the unpredictable soil moisture levels in the field despite its tile system. In very wet years the field was unable to be worked in time for crops to be planted. In dry years late season flooding from the adjacent creek periodically would lower crop yields. The site was selected because it is hydrologically isolated and its tile fields do not connect to private lands.
Work on this project is slated for 2010.