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PROPOSED MISCELLANEOUS ITEM OF BUSINESS
REQUEST TO REGISTER A PORTION OF WAMPUM LAKE AS AN ILLINOIS 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 a portion of the Wampum Lake preserve as an Illinois 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 Wampum Lake Nature Preserve is approximately a 380-acre portion of the preserves located in the Village of Thornton in southeast Cook County. The site consists of unusual natural communities such as sand seep, sand savanna, and open floodplain. The site also contains important cultural resources which merit its dedication and protection. The Lake and groves will be excluded from the nature preserve to ensure unfettered public access to those amenities.
The Forest Preserves of Cook County (the “Forest Preserves”) currently has 23 dedicated Nature Preserves and 4 Land and Water Reserves. The addition of Wampum Lake 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 Wampum Lake to the Illinois Nature Preserve Commission for review and formal dedication as an Illinois Nature Preserve.
District(s): 6
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