Wetlands restoration work continuing in Wayne

Significant progress has been made in the ongoing effort to recreate prairies and wetlands at a former farm in Wayne, DuPage County Forest Preserve officials say.

But they say there's much more to do before the restoration work is done at Dunham Forest Preserve, which is south of Army Trail Road and west of Powis Road.

"The wetland part is more intensive than upland prairie restoration," said Nick Fuller, natural resources project coordinator with the district. "It's going to take a lot of manpower to go in and maintain it because you've got to do it all by hand."

A decade ago, the forest preserve district bought the 378-acre Dunham property for $25 million. At the time, forest preserve officials called the acquisition environmentally important because it provides a habitat for grassland birds and animals.

The district is working with several partners to recreate a total of 212 acres of prairies and wetlands at Dunham, including 11 acres of wetlands mitigated by the Canadian National Railway and 27 acres of wetlands funded by DuPage County's stormwater management department.

Since 2008, the Wayne Area Conservancy has helped the district pay for, install and maintain more than 150 species of flowers and grasses on more than 135 acres of prairie, officials said.

Over the winter, district crews seeded native wetland species. Now they are beginning "intensive" maintenance of the wetlands to ensure the restoration meets ecological goals, including hydrology and vegetative quality.

"We're tackling all of the wetlands at once," Fuller said.

To create the new wetlands, the district will rehydrate the soil, in part by disabling drain tiles buried in former agricultural fields. With the return of natural hydrology to the preserve, the district then will be able to seed the area with additional native wetland plants. Invasive plants will be removed.

Officials said returning the land to prairies and wetlands will improve ecological health and help with floodwater storage.

One acre of wetland can hold up to 1.5 million gallons of stormwater, trap pollutants carried in the water before they reach underground reservoirs, and provide habitat for hundreds of species of native plants and animals, officials said.

Once all of the prairie and wetland improvements are completed, Fuller said, "Future generations will have an awesome viewscape, a preserve full of wildlife and the return of a wetland ecosystem that provides benefits like water cleansing and floodwater storage."

The district is planning to install a scenic overlook, trail and parking lot at the preserve. The parking lot will be located off Army Trail, near a historic train depot that the Wayne Historical Society is planning to renovate.

Construction is expected to begin in fall 2017. A $1.3 million Illinois Transportation Enhancements grant is helping to pay for this part of the project.