Rock Run Preserve-Black Road Access

The Black Road Access area is a part of the Forest Preserve District of Will County's (FPDWC) Rock Run Creek Preserve system. It did have a matrix of native plants in place, but it was being increasingly choked out and overrun by brush and other invasive species. Like Theodore Marsh, its location along Rock Run and its similarity in geologic character to sites along the Des Plaines River makes it a place that is important not only in its own right but as a potential seed source for restoration efforts at Lockport Prairie, Romeoville Prairie, and elsewhere. 

(Download full project description here:  Wetlands Restoration: Rock Run Preserve - Black Road Access (24.06 kB).)

Location: Black Road approximately 0.25 mile east of the I-55 overpass, Joliet, IL

Funding source: Material Service Corporation Settlement Fund (MSCSF)

Owner & land manager: Forest Preserve District of Will County (FPDWC)

Size of project site: 46 acres

Project date: 2004

Partners: Conservation Fund/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Forest Preserve District of Will County (FPDWC), Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, Openlands (formerly CorLands), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District

Action: Cutting and treatment of shrubs and trees, treatment and follow-up to control herbaceous invasive species, and design and installation of interpretive signage.