Conservation district adds to area near Rush Creek
McHenry County Conservation District Board of Trustees recently approved two land acquisition contracts for a combined 50 acres adjacent the 581-acre Rush Creek Conservation Area in Harvard.
The purchase of a 33-acre parcel located, located NE of Route 14 along Windy Hill Road, will protect one of the last remaining areas of mature oak woodlands in the area. The total purchase price is $742,500. A late October closing date is anticipated.
"Recent MCCD studies on oak woodland distribution between 1837 and 2005 have discovered that over 90 percent of McHenry County's original oak ecosystems have disappeared," said Ed Collins natural resource manager.
"This area is rich with wooded communities dominated by oak species, and is one of the larger remaining sections of the former Big Woods region in McHenry County."
An additional 17 acres, on Streit Road along the southern boundary of Rush Creek, was purchased for $425,000. This parcel protects an upland drainage way that provides water to Rush Creek, as well as acting as an important buffer to high-quality wetland communities restored at Rush Creek Conservation Area in 2003.
Both properties are being purchased with funds from the 2007 referendum bond proceeds
Rush Creek Conservation Area is situated on Marengo Ridge, a major glacial feature that represents the furthest westward expansion of the glaciation in McHenry County. Rush Creek was created to preserve one of the larger remaining blocks of the Big Woods, a once-vast ecosystem.
Two centuries of land use have reduced that large woods to scattered fragments interspersed with cleared areas, agricultural land and estate homes.
Protection efforts began in 1974 when the district purchased the first 153-acre Burrows parcel.
The main entrance to Rush Creek is located off McGuire Road, north of Route 14. The site offers 2.75 miles of interpretive nature trails for hiking or cross country skiing, campgrounds, fishing, more than 5 miles of horseback trails, and picnic shelters.