‘A massive transformation’: Project is undoing a century of farming at Lake County preserve

For more than a century, much of the land spreading south from the Wisconsin border in central Lake County has been the domain of farmers.

Assisted by a canal created by artificially straightening and deepening North Mill Creek in 1916, a large area east of Route 45 and north of Route 173 has been in agricultural use for generations.

That’s coming to an end with a $15 million reset for the Dutch Gap Forest Preserve — named for a local canal and created in several land acquisitions in 2010 and 2011 — now in the works.

The table is set for a long-contemplated transformation of about 534 acres of farmland back to a natural state. The enormous project also encompasses restoration of nonfarm areas across the 794-acre preserve.

“We retired the lease for farming so we could do this project,” explained Pati Vitt, director of natural resources for the Lake County Forest Preserve District. “This is a really interesting project because it’s so big.”

The effort led by the Army Corps of Engineers Chicago District in partnership with the Lake County Forest Preserve District has been a priority for more than a decade.

“This is an opportunity for us to look at what was here historically and try and determine, given the current conditions with plant communities, what will do best across the site,” Vitt added.

An extensive underground drainage system, still in place, carried water away to ditches and to the Dutch Gap canal. That allowed for farming but fundamentally altered the landscape and how water moves through it.

The project is akin to hitting the “undo” button on more than a century of farming modifications to bring the land back to its natural state, said Patrick Kennedy, project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chicago District.

“Visually, the landscape will undergo a massive transformation from expansive farm fields to a native prairie, savanna and wetland landscape,” he said.

Old drainage tiles will be removed and the project area and canal graded to restore a natural stream corridor where water flows naturally and soaks into the ground.

As a result, more water will be held and released more slowly, which will reduce local flooding, Kennedy said.

The completed project will act like a giant sponge for the region and be accompanied by the expected return of rare native plants, birds and other wildlife, he added.

“It would not surprise me in 10 or 15 years, because of the size of this project, we may have badgers move in here,” Vitt said during a recent site visit. “There’s a lot of habitat and a lot of different kinds of habitat that will become available.”

Located between the Prairie Stream and Pine Dunes forest preserves, Dutch Gap is a critical part of a large ecological complex and greenway in north-central Lake County. It has been identified as a high-priority restoration site since at least 2015, Kennedy said.

“Restoring this site is vital because it has the potential to significantly improve (and) increase critical habitat for migratory birds and local wildlife within the Upper Des Plaines River Watershed, improve water quality, and provide additional recreation opportunities,” Kennedy said.

At 785 acres and authorized for a federal contribution of up to $15 million, this is one of the larger ecosystem recreation efforts in the region and one of the largest Continuing Authorities Program Section 206 projects ever awarded nationwide, he added.

The federal government will cover 65% of the project cost, with the forest preserve district contributing 35%. But because the district will receive a substantial credit for the value of the land, its out-of-pocket expenses could be nil, according to Vitt.

Fueled by ample rain this season, what had been tilled fields at Dutch Gap quickly has filled with perennial native grasses and wildflowers like big blue stem, Indiangrass, and stiff golden rod.

Vitt cited restoration at the Pine Dunes Forest Preserve to the east, which had a landscape similar to Dutch Gap, as an example of how quickly a habitat can rebound.

Bee species that hadn’t been seen in Illinois in decades, if ever, were found at Pine Dunes.

“It epitomizes, ‘If you build it, they will come,’” she said.

Restoration at Dutch Gap will begin in winter. The removal of invasive species and other work will continue for about a year. Plantings and other elements will be monitored over the following four years.

mzawislak@dailyherald.com