Cook County forest preserve to dedicate Harms Woods as Illinois Nature Preserve

The Forest Preserves of Cook County on Tuesday will dedicate 169 acres of Harms Woods Forest Preserve near Glenview as Harms Woods Nature Preserve - a milestone 25th Illinois Nature Preserve.

The site brings the forest district's total Illinois Nature Preserves-designated protected land to 7,248 acres, with habitats that range from a rare peat bog to a remnant black soil prairie. Dedication of a site as an Illinois Nature Preserve provides the highest level of protection for land in Illinois.

To celebrate, the preserve will host five guided walks at district Illinois Nature Preserves across Cook County. For dates and locations, visit fpdcc.com/events/category/nature-preserve-tour/.

Harms Woods Nature Preserve offers a varied spring woodland wildflower display, including wild geranium, trout lilies, blue cohosh and white trillium. The wildflowers feed butterflies and birds from spring to fall. Visitors can hear frogs call from small ponds and see birds like great crested flycatchers, chestnut-sided warblers, and Cooper's hawks, and maybe even glimpse a mink as it splashes into the North Branch of the Chicago River.