Orland Grassland

Orland Grassland is a large rectangle that is one-mile wide by 1.5 miles long. The Forest Preserve District of Cook County purchased the site in the 1970s and planted clusters of trees on the former agricultural fields. Before that, pre-settlement vegetation maps show the site and most of the surrounding area of Orland Township was entirely prairie.

(Download the full project description here:  Wetland Restoration Projects: Orland Grassland (25.55 kB).)

Location: LaGrange Road at 167th Street, Orland Park, IL

Funding source: Material Service Corporation Settlement Fund

Owner & land manager: Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC)

Size of project site: 505 acres

Project date: 2002

Partners: Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC), Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, National Audubon Society - Chicago Region, Openlands (formerly CorLands), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Village of Orland Park

Action: Restoration management plan, drainage tile inventory, hydric soil mapping, hydrologic restoration, hedgerow removal, treatment of woody resprouts, planting of native seeds and plugs, prescribed burning, herbaceous invasive species control, bird and plant monitoring, native insect inventory, and volunteer recruitment, training and mentoring.