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PROPOSED MISCELLANEOUS ITEM OF BUSINESS
REQUEST TO REGISTER AN ADDITION TO THORNTON-LANSING ROAD NATURE PRESERVE
Department: Resource Management
Summary: Requesting authority, pursuant to Section 9 of the Cook County Forest Preserve District Act (70 ILCS 810/9), to register an addition to Thornton-Lansing Road Nature Preserve with the Illinois Nature Preserve Commission (“INPC”).
This dedication contributes to one of the key goals set forward in the Next Century Conservation Plan to dedicate and register 20,000 acres with the INPC by 2025. Dedication of a site as a Nature Preserve provides the highest level of protection for land in Illinois, and is granted only to natural areas of important natural and cultural significance.
The proposed addition is approximately an 100-acre portion of the preserves located adjacent to Thornton-Lansing Road Nature Preserve in the Village of Thornton in southeast Cook County. This addition expands the footprint of the existing nature preserve from 340 to 440 acres. The site consists of a mosaic of high-quality natural communities such as sand forest, sand flatwoods, sand savanna, sand prairie, sedge meadow, and marsh, and contains many conservative species, including 4 species listed as threatened or endangered in Illinois.
The Forest Preserves of Cook County (the “Forest Preserves”) currently has 23 dedicated Nature Preserves and 4 Land and Water Reserves. The addition of this expansion to Thornton-Lansing Road Nature Preserve and all other proposed dedications in 2018 would bring the Forest Preserves’ total INPC protected lands to approximately 8,400 acres.
It is respectfully requested that authority be granted to Forest Preserves to submit this addition to the Illinois Nature Preserve Commission for review and formal dedication as an Illinois Nature Preserve.
District(s): 6
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