A Threat to the Treasured Wolf Road Prairie

 By Connie Schmidt

Wolf Road Prairie is the largest and highest-quality remnant tallgrass prairie east of the Mississippi River, representing a part of the .01% of these landscapes, which survived American settlement in Illinois. This ecosystem supports one of the densest and most diverse ecological communities in the temperate world. In 1988, the IDNR designated this unique 55-acre site an Illinois Nature Preserve. Because it is surrounded by development, it remains in grave danger of degradation over time. 

 

Photo by Wyatt Widmer

As home for countless species, these ecological communities clean the air, manage storm water, prevent flooding and erosion, store and create nutrients, and sequester carbon. Wolf Road Prairie also mitigates pollution from 31st Street and the closed landfill to the west, and filters a watershed four times its size. Development of any of these endangered ecosystems would destroy their services to the public, degrade Wolf Road Prairie’s wetlands, and diminish overall biodiversity. In the future, it will be the public who pays the price of this destruction.

 

Photo by Wyatt Widmer

This spring, the nonprofit Save the Prairie Society and community group Save our Oak Savanna learned of a plan for construction of a new, 180-unit rental development on a 15-acre parcel of land at Hickory Lane and 31st Street in Westchester, Illinois. This land is part of an endangered oak savanna ecosystem that protects the world-famous Wolf Road Prairie, and provides valuable services to the village, the watershed, and local biodiversity. Fortunately, in late July, the city of Westchester turned down the permit request for this development, but it is vital that this land be turned over to the Forest Preserves of Cook County and designated as nature preserve.

 

Photo by Wyatt Widmer

Leaders and volunteers from RPG and IL Chapter Sierra Club continue to work with the Save the Prairie Society in an effort to preserve Wolf Road Prairie and Hickory Lane. Just as a healthy buffer zone is necessary to a healthy ecosystem, a healthy ecosystem is necessary to a healthy civilization. Watch for further information to help the Save the Prairie Society secure this 15-acre parcel, along with the rest of the Hickory Lane subdivision, as part of the Wolf Road Prairie Nature Preserve, so that our society may enjoy the benefits of green infrastructure and the heritage of remnant natural landscapes for generations to come. 

Photo by Wyatt Widmer