Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve

Lockport Prairie was already a well-managed site of high ecological quality, so much of the intensive restoration work initiated at other MSCSF sites was unnecessary here. However, strategic planting of native plugs was done on approximately twelve acres in the north half of Lockport Prairie's north unit (the section north of Division Street.) This area had been cleared by the Forest Preserve District of Will County, but natives were slow to come back. So seeds were taken from plants at Lockport Prairie to ensure genetic integrity and sameness, and to satisfy the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission.

(Download full project description here:  Wetlands Restoration: Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve (28.87 kB).)

Location: Route 53 (Broadway) & Division Street, approx. 1 mile south of Route 7, Lockport, IL

Funding source: Material Service Corporation Settlement Fund (MSCSF)

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

Size of project site: 138 acres

Project date: 2000

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

Action: Hydrologic analysis of the site's surface and groundwater water sheds, ground and surface water monitoring, update of plant community map, inventory of the federally-listed Hines emerald dragonfly (HED) both on-site and nearby, development of a captive rearing program for larval HED and future reintroduction of larva into restored rivulet habitats, planting of native shrubs, brush removal along west bluff, establishment of FPDWC management agreement with Commonwealth Edison, and acquisition of property.