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PROPOSED MISCELLANEOUS ITEM OF BUSINESS
Department: Department of Resource Management
Summary: The Forest Preserves of Cook County (the "Forest Preserves") requests authority to submit Poplar Creek preserve as an Illinois Land and Water Reserve to the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission ("INPC").
This registration contributes to one of the key goals set forward in the Forest Preserves' Next Century Conservation Plan to dedicate and register 20,000 acres with the INPC. Registration of a site as an Illinois Land and Water Reserve provides a high level of protection for land in Illinois and is granted only to natural areas of important ecological quality. Poplar Creek serves as an important buffer and extension of the rare gravel hill prairie community already preserved in the adjacent Shoe Factory Road Nature Preserve.
The proposed Poplar Creek Land and Water Reserve, commonly referred to as Carl R. Hansen Woods, is an approximately 579-acre preserve located within the larger Arthur L. Janura Preserve complex near the Village of Hoffman Estates in northwest Cook County. The site historically consisted of agricultural lands interspersed with intact remnant woodlands and prairies which have since been successfully transformed into functional native ecosystems through significant investments in restoration and the efforts of volunteer groups such as the Poplar Creek Prairie Stewards, who have led management of the site since 1989. The site supports at least twenty-seven (27) species identified as being in the greatest need of conservation, underpinning its ecological importance to the region.
The Forest Preserves currently has twenty-seven (27) dedicated Nature Preserves and five (5) Land and Water Reserves. The addition of Poplar Creek would bring the Forest Preserves' total INPC-protected lands to approximately 10,975 acres.
The Forest Preserves respectfully requests authority to submit Poplar Creek to the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission f...
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