Prairie Creek Savanna

Awe-inspiring oaks and soaring hickories are found at the Prairie Creek Savanna. But buckthorn, honeysuckle, and back locust had choked out almost all attempts of oak or hickory seedlings to find the sun, and there was little regeneration of these characteristic trees of the savanna.

Also, the dense cover of woody invasives was preventing the growth of the native herbaceous species you would expect to find in a healthy savanna system... (Download the full project description here:  Wetland Restoration Projects: Prairie Creek Savanna (25.36 kB).)

Location: I-55 to River Road (Exit 241); East to Boathouse Rd., Wilmington, IL

Funding source: Material Service Corporation Settlement Fund

Owner & land manager: Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, U.S. Department of  Agriculture Forest Service

Size of project site: 43 acres

Project date: 2000

Partners: Openlands (formerly CorLands), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service

Action: Cutting and removing trees and brush, follow-up treatment of woody resprouts and seedlings, control of invasive herbaceous plants, and hydrologic monitoring both before and after the removal of woody invasives.