Poplar Creek named Illinois Land and Water Reserve
Poplar Creek became an Illinois Land and Water Reserve on Tuesday after a unanimous vote by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, the county announced Tuesday.
The natural area joins five other Cook County sites to earn the designation, which provides a higher level of environmental protection and is specifically granted to areas of regional ecological or cultural significance.
"This Resolution will cement Poplar Creek as an environmental safe haven in the 15th District and represents Cook County's commitment to ecological stewardship in its Forest Preserves," Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison said in a statement.
The reserve is home to at least 27 plant and wildlife species that have been identified as being "in the greatest need of conservation," particularly several grassland bird species that are sensitive to habitat fragmentation. Fragmentation is when parts of a habitat are destroyed, leaving behind smaller, unconnected areas.
Poplar Creek is an extension of the rare gravel prairie already preserved in its neighbor, the nearby Shoe Factory Road Nature Preserve.
Gravel prairies are what they sound like: prairies that grow on gravel or on soil that includes a lot of gravel.
They are known for cropping up on kames - mounds of gravel left during the melting of glacial ice - in the northeastern part of the state. They also appear on eskers, or long, narrow ridges of gravel deposited by a stream flowing in an ice-walled valley or tunnel in a melting glacial ice sheet.
In 1992, there were approximately 148 acres of gravel prairies in Illinois, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
"Registering the Poplar Creek Reserve advances the goals embedded in our Natural and Cultural Resources Master Plan and represents a critical step in furthering our environmental restoration objectives in the years to come," Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said in a statement.
• Jenny Whidden is a climate change and environment writer working with the Daily Herald through a partnership with Report For America supported by The Nature Conservancy. To help support her work with a tax-deductible donation, see dailyherald.com/rfa.