Grant helps DuPage County plant oak trees along Prairie Path

DuPage County crews will plant oak trees along a stretch of the Illinois Prairie Path near West Chicago thanks to a $10,000 grant.

The county’s transportation division first plans to clear invasive, nonnative plants in an area northwest of Diversey Parkway and Wiant Road, across from St. Andrews Golf and Country Club. European buckthorn, Japanese honeysuckle and other invaders degrade environmental health and encroach on zones where bicyclists or pedestrians can safely step off the path, officials say.

Roughly two acres of wooded, invasive trees will be cut flush to the ground and removed from the landscape.

The county received the Oak Ecosystems grant from the Morton Arboretum, which received the money from Nicor Gas, to fund a pilot project to grow new native plants and trees along a portion of the Prairie Path.

“Woody invasive plants such as buckthorn wreak havoc on our oak and other native ecosystems,” Melissa Custic, the arboretum's Chicago Region Trees Initiative interim director and operations manager, said in a statement. “Collaborative work like this to manage invasive species is extremely important for the health of our regional forest and native habitats.”

For the second stage of the project, the county has selected three different species of oak trees to be planted in the area. That work is set to begin in April or May.