March Featured Sites
Illinois Nature Preserves Commission 60th Anniversary
Land Ownership
Dr. Marianne Hahn is the primary landowner. She made her original purchase of (and subsequent additions to) Sweet Fern Savanna with the sole intent of preserving its natural features for future generations. The Nature Conservancy is another landowner which owns two small tracts of the Reserve. Additions to Sweet Fern Savanna provide buffer and restore hydrology to aid in the restoration of wetlands, wet sand prairie, and sedge meadow communities on site.
History of Pembroke Township
Sweet Fern Savanna Land and Water Reserve
Management
Prescribed Burn at Sweet Fern Savanna Land and Water Reserve
Prescribed fire is the most important tool for maintaining the open structure of the savanna. The savanna community itself and endangered plant species which occur on site all require open structure with minimal shade. While invasive species such as bush honeysuckle, reed canary grass, sweet clover, and black locust are found here, they are in isolated areas and under good control. Most stewardship activities focus on controlling succession, by thinning oaks, and controlling quaking aspen, sassafras, and black cherry. With so many disturbance-adapted rare species found in the old fields of Sweet Fern Savanna, management includes deliberately disturbing strips of soil and monitoring ecological succession as well as the response of rare, threatened, and endangered species.
Contributor: Kim Roman
Editor: Heather McLean
Pale Spiked Lobelia and New Jersey Tea
Flowering Spurge
Lead Plant and Downy Sunflower
Prairie (Green) Milkweed
Prairie Phlox
Contributor: John Griesbaum
Editor: Heather McLean
Beall Woods Nature Preserve & Land and Water Reserve
White Oak Staircase at Beall Woods
Beall Woods was dedicated as a Nature Preserve in 1966 followed by a Land and Water Reserve registration in 2002. The entire 374-acre site, owned by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources , is one of the oldest dedicated Nature Preserves found in Illinois.
The high-quality forests, both the floodplain and the uplands, as well as the mature old-growth forests were the reasons for protection. It is also recognized for its Grade A and B dry-mesic upland forests, wet-mesic floodplain forest, wet floodplain forest, Grade A sandstone cliff community, and populations of the state endangered bloodleaf.
Old Growth Forests
Beall Woods is one of few, if not the best, remnant forest representation of an historic old growth forest that was once associated with the Lower Wabash River Valley. It is listed on the National Natural Landmark system as the “Forest of the Wabash”. Robert Ridgway, a renowned historic ornithologist, noted in his adventures that the Lower Wabash River Valley had tremendously large trees of extraordinary nature. The great size and height of the trees found here is truly unique and beautiful. Visitors on site can see trees up to 120 feet tall and more than three feet in diameter. The forest has a large species list with almost a dozen species of oaks and half a dozen species of hickory.
Beall Woods Site Staff Looking at the Great Size and Height of Trees on Site
Wildlife
Beall Woods supports a large variety of both flora and fauna, including multiple thriving populations of the state listed bloodleaf. Also, as mentioned before, the site has numerous tree species – many of which were at one time the state champion due to their size.
Click through the images to view wildlife found at Beall Woods Nature Preserve & Land and Water Reserve.
From Left to Right: Summer Tanager, DeKay's Brown Snake, Trillium, Flicker, Fungi, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Chipmunk, Fungi, and Cedar Waxwing.
Visiting
The site has a visitor center, located near the center of the park, that hosts educational exhibits. These exhibits have photos, maps, and displays that all explain the natural history of the area surrounding the park. The park also allows for fishing and boating, hunting in specified areas, and hosts amenities such as hiking trails, picnic areas, and camping.
Beall Woods
Contributor: Sami Childerson
Editor: Heather McLean
Jennings Family Hill Prairie Nature Preserve
History
Jennings Family Hill Prairie is a wonderful example of why the flexible work of the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission (INPC) and its programs can lead to the best outcomes.
Read through the timeline to learn how the site went from family property to an IDNR owned and protected Nature Preserve!
Tom and Augusta Parrington, great great grandson of Bailes Jennings, who first acquired the property in the mid-1800s. Tom, along with his sister Mary Kruetzfeldt, and mother Eileen Jennings Parrington, dedicated the preserve in 1999.
Wildlife
This site has a broad array of hill prairie species, ranging from abundant obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana) to leadplant (Amorpha canescens). The site also contains a good population of the state-threatened bluehearts (Buchnera americana).
Keep scrolling to view some plant species found at Jennings Family Hill Prairie Nature Preserve.
From Left to Right: Lithospermum, Obedient Plant, Tall Coreopsis, and Dune Ladies' Tresses.
Contributor: Debbie Newman
Editor: Heather McLean
Russell M. Duffin Nature Preserve
Russell M. Duffin Nature Preserve
Topography
The preserve contains mesic upland forest and dry upland forest of the Vermilion River Section of the Wabash Border Natural Division. The forest is composed of red oak, sugar maple, beech, and tulip tree species in the ravines and white oak, black oak, and hickory on the ridgetops. There is a rich ground cover of spring wildflowers, including squirrel corn, yellow trout lily, and celandine poppy.
Management Techniques
Stewardship of the site includes prescribed fire, mesic tree thinning, and deer management around the preserve in Forest Glen Park. The purpose is to control invasive vegetation from outcompeting native species causing their decline. When invasive species become established, natives are ultimately eliminated.
Russell M. Duffin Nature Preserve
Contributor: John Griesbaum
Editor: Heather McLean
