Busse Woods, Deer Grove forest restorations identified as priorities

Restoration of Deer Grove and Ned Brown (Busse Woods) preserves in Northwest Cook County has been identified as a top priority in new long-range vision plan for Forest Preserves of Cook County.

"A century ago, visionary civic leaders understood how important it was to set aside open land for the public," Forest Preserves President Toni Preckwinkle said in a news release. "The Natural and Cultural Resources Master plan provides a holistic look at the state of the preserves, its habitats and wildlife as well as identifies the framework we need to restore and preserve this natural treasure for the next century."

The plan, developed in partnership with the University of Illinois's Prairie Research Institute, is the first of its kind for the district and acts as a guide on how to implement the goals of the Next Century Conservation plan issued in 2014, which aims at restoring 30,000 of the forest preserves' 69,000 acres in 25 years.

The plan prioritizes sites in need of restoration. In addition to Deer Grove and Ned Brown, it pinpoints Palos Complex in the Southwest and Jurgensen Complex in the Southeast.

The four areas were chosen based on a variety of factors including lands currently under restoration, lands that could be brought to high natural quality relatively quickly, and the number of threatened and endangered plant and wildlife species found therein. More than 100 species of plants and animals listed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources as threatened or endangered rely heavily on the forest preserves for survival.

The Prairie Research Institute spent more than a year collaborating with Forest Preserves staff on the study. Not only were land quality and wildlife considered, but cultural and historic aspects. Of the 1,200 archaeological sites in the county, 46 percent are on forest preserve land. PRI staff also made recommendations on future land acquisition, wildlife management, how to best deal with invasive species and outside threats as well as monitoring methods to track wildlife data.

"Forest Preserves staff along with many partners, stewards and volunteers continuously work on our lands, but if we are to truly make an impact we need to have a strategy in place that identifies where and how to best address the land and habitats with the most need," said Forest Preserves General Superintendent Arnold Randall.

The plan can be viewed and downloaded at fpdcc.com.