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Illinois Beach Set for Big Invasives Removal

The largest uninterrupted coastal natural area in Illinois got a needed boost when Dale Hall, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, announced in January a $350,000 federal grant focused on removing invasive species from Illinois Beach State Park and the adjoining Spring Bluff Forest Preserve. The two sites together occupy roughly 3,300 contiguous acres in northeastern Lake County, Illinois.

Hall, who visited Chicago for the announcement and later met with many Chicago Wilderness members, commended the significant amount of teamwork among federal, state, and local officials that made the grant possible, pointing to what can be accomplished “when no one cares who gets the credit.”

Illinois Beach State Park, which was recently renamed Adeline Jay Geo-Karis Illinois Beach State Park to honor the outgoing state senator (we can presume it wasn’t for simplicity), is managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Its sunny, open landscape features “swell and swale” topography, ancient beach ridges running parallel to Lake Michigan that foster a variety of habitats, from sand prairie and black oak savanna to marshes. Managed by the Lake County Forest Preserves, Spring Bluff (which also connects to Chiwaukee Prairie along its northern border) includes, according to the district, “one of the highest-quality dry prairies in the region.” The Spring Bluff project will receive $227,125.

Part of the grant will go toward monitoring the effects of the restoration work on several rare species, including a turtle population study, rare plant monitoring, and wetland breeding bird surveys.

Land managers are now under the gun to put the funding to good use on the preserves. State Senator Michael Bond, who replaced Senator Geo-Karis, relayed her admonition: “If you’re going to name it after me, you’d better take care of it.”.

— Don Parker