Agencies
Services
Land and Water Reserve Area
9
County
Massac
Location
The site is 1 mile east of the city of Metropolis in extreme southern Illinois within Fort Massac State Park.
Description
Fort Massac Land and Water Reserve is dominated by wet-bottomland forest (Grade C mature second growth) along Massac Creek. Wet bottomland forest were once a widespread natural community throughout the Ohio and Mississippi River riparian areas on the first terrace of the floodplain, but now this reserve is one of the last few remaining examples. The highest quality wet-bottomland forest occurs within the Forest Massac West Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI #0738) site. Due to lack of relief, frequent flooding, and high clay soils, the natural community support a unique assemblage of plants adapted to frequent and prolonged inundation during the growing season. The reserve also includes shoreline and aquatic habitat within the Ohio River that support a rich and diverse mussel population (including one federally listed species). Additionally, the site provides habitat for a diverse collection of plants, muscles, reptiles, amphibians, and forest interior birds, including numerous state endangered or threatened species and rare plant species that reach the northernmost extension of their range in southern Illinois.
Ownership
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Natural Division
Bottomlands Section of the Coastal Plain Natural Division (#14b)
Registered
October 2001
Size
200 acres
Access
The site is open to the public.
Topographic Quad
Metropolis
For Further Information
Visit the State Park Website or Contact the INPC
Illinois Nature Preserves Commission
One Natural Resources Way
Springfield, IL 62702
217-785-8686
DNR.INPC@illinois.gov