Agencies
Services
Land and Water Reserve Area
3
County
Iroquois
Location
The site is in the extreme northeast corner of Iroquois County, approximately 0.75 miles west of the Illinois-Indiana state line, 24 miles southeast of Kankakee, 76 miles south of Chicago, and 15 miles northeast of Watseka. It is within the resource rich Kankakee Sands Ecosystem.
Description
Iroquois County State Wildlife Area Land and Water Reserve is the best and largest functioning mosaic of sand savanna – sedge meadow- wet prairie complex that remains in the Kankakee Sands Ecosystem. It is also one of the few areas in Illinois that still retains a continuum of high-quality natural community types at a landscape level. The site consists of Grade B sedge meadow, Grade B sand savanna, Grade B sand prairie, Grade C sand flatwoods (identified on the INAI as the “best of type” throughout the entire Grand Prairie Natural Division), Grade B shrub prairie, and Grade B marsh communities identified by the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI #0763). The sedge meadow community is dominated by tussock sedge, blue-joint grass, sensitive fern, and hardhack. The small, but high-quality, marsh is characterized by cattails, marsh shield fern, monkey flower, sedges, and rushes. Black oak, porcupine grass, June grass, spiderwort, and cleft phlox dominate the dry sand savanna. One of the more unique features is the sand flatwoods community charactered by its seasonal hydrology and the presence of pin oak, white oak, black gum, swamp dewberry, and hair cap moss. The remaining high-quality natural communities on site are different prairie types. In addition, there is habitat for area-sensitive grassland bird species and populations of rare or unusual plants and animals, including state-listed species.
Ownership
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Natural Division
Kankakee Sand Area Section of the Grand Prairie Natural Division (#4e)
Registered
February 2001
Size
1,913 acres
Access
The site is open to the public.
Topographic Quad
Donovan
For Further Information
Visit the State Wildlife Area Website or Contact the INPC
Illinois Nature Preserves Commission
One Natural Resources Way
Springfield, IL 62702
217-785-8686
DNR.INPC@illinois.gov