Cook County Forest Preserve begins $500,000 project near Wheeling

The Forest Preserves of Cook County is beginning a $500,000 restoration project on 259 acres of forest preserve land near Wheeling, according to a news release.

According to the forest preserves, workers will remove a large number of trees from the Portwine, Dam #1 Woods and Willow-Sanders properties, which stretch from Willow Road in the south to Lake-Cook Road in the north.

"You may be using the Des Plaines Trail or driving down Dundee Road and see heavy equipment at work," said Forest Preserves Chief Ecologist Chip O'Leary. "Some parts of the landscape may look fairly bare for a while. But give them a season or two, and they will rebound very well with grasses and wildflowers."

Many of the trees being removed are invasive species that encroached on previously open land. The project, seven years in the planning, will restore habitat for plants and animals native to the prairies and woodlands, increasing wildlife diversity and reducing erosion.

For the first time, the Forest Preserves will be using most of the wood removed to produce lumber and firewood, which will save approximately $235,000 over the course of the project.

The project is being paid for with wetland mitigation funds from the Illinois Tollway Authority.