The Des Plaines River Wetlands DemonstrationProject is a living laboratory wherethe public and even floodsare welcome.

Story By Joe McFarlandPhotos Courtesy Lake CountyForest Preserves

T he landscape at these 550acres in northeast Illinoishas changed dramatically atotal of three times duringthe past 10,000 years or so.

The first change: The Wisconsinanglacier melted away to reveal a rich, wet-land-filled river valley. It was Illinois’ lastglacial episode. For thousands of yearsthereafter, a river that would eventuallybe known as the Des Plaines wandered

Meanwhile, roads and cities were builtnearby. Construction projects beggedfor raw materials, so mountains of grav-el and sand were mined from the glacialdeposits near the river, leaving acres ofdeep, water-filled pits where shallowwetlands once existed.

Modern development increasedexponentially during the 20th century,and by 1975, the once-massive wet-lands that thrived for thousands ofyears along the Des Plaines River hadbecome scarcely more than a minorfootnote for passing motorists glancingout the window while crossing a riverbridge in Wadsworth.

Then came the third dramaticchange.

across this biologically diverse wetlandhabitat, surviving centuries of droughtand flood, scorching wildfires and gradu-ally changing climate. Throughout theages, industrious beavers steadily main-tained water levels as countless numbersof wetland-dependent wildlife flourished.

The next two changes came fast—both during the past 175 years.

European settlers arrived at thispiece of northeastern Illinois during theearly 1800s and decided to makeimprovements. Beaver pelts, prized bythe European fur trade, led to the localextirpation of this wetland mammal bythe mid 1800s. Farmers quickly clearedand drained the fertile river bottomswith field tiles and straight ditches.14 / OutdoorIllinois June 2008

June 2008 OutdoorIllinois / 15

In the early 1980s, an Illinois envi-ronmental engineer and a few otherconservationists floated a dramatic ideabefore the Lake County Forest Pre-serves District. What if the entire 550acres were re-sculpted into proper wet-lands? Such change would represent amajor shift in the dynamics of the localwatershed. And while it wasn’t possibleto erase history and restore the originalwetlands, would this Herculean propos-al be a better alternative than leavingthe dysfunctional land as a bleak monu-ment to itself?

The forest preserve district hadacquired the heavily altered landscapein a series of individual purchases in theearly 1970s. Yet what the Des Plaines

site offered to the public in those earlyyears was a river corridor that was, atbest, a heavily fragmented natural expe-rience. Canoeists launching at theWadsworth bridge in the mid-70s mightpaddle past giant concrete culverts andstripped-over floodplain. During the fre-quent floods which plagued the entirewatershed, a canoe excursion mighttravel across a flooded farm field andthrough a mine pit before floating pastsomeone’s house.

Donald Hey, an environmental engi-neer and past member of the IllinoisDepartment of Conservation’s WetlandsAdvisory Council, had crunched somewetlands numbers and proposed to theforest preserve a radical alteration ofthe landscape.

What if the restructured wetlandswere designed to function not only aswetlands reminiscent of pre-Europeansettlement days, but also as an experi-mental laboratory with different gradi-ent zones and water-control structures

manipulating the river flow amidmarshes and shallow ponds? The wet-lands could be a public demonstrationarea and serve as a water-holding centerfor flood control with benefits forwildlife and public recreation—a scien-tific model for other wetlands nearurban landscapes and everywhere else.

It would require a huge alteration ofthe site, an epic overhaul of the land-scape unseen since the Wisconsinanglacier. But since the current landscapewas a relatively new condition, Heypointed out that wetlands were perfect-ly natural.

Lake County’s Wetlands Demonstration

Project transformed a scarred landscape

into a functioning wetland system.

Twenty-five years ago, heavy equipment

descended on the Des Plaines River

Wetlands Demonstration Project area to

re-establish natural wetlands.

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“We knew the site had evidence ofhydric soils. Hydric soils are the foot-print of wetlands,” Hey explained.Excavations conducted in soil strataalong the Des Plaines revealed ancientevidence of beaver dams and lodgesdating back thousands of years to theMiddle Archaic, firmly establishingthese 550 acres as a natural wetlandwith thousands of years of history.

But convincing skeptics that a wet-land could be constructed in the devel-opment-scarred river habitat seemeddaunting. Some even jeered at the idea.

Yet the monumental project gainedsupport in Washington as local congres-sional representatives got on board.The forest preserve learned theywouldn’t have to spend a dime or footthe bill. Instead, a development group,Wetlands Research, Inc. was formedwith Hey as director, and earth-movingequipment descended upon the proper-ty in 1983 to begin construction.

It’s been more than 25 years sincethe idea to create a wetland wasspawned. Today, The Des Plaines RiverWetlands Demonstration Project repre-sents an unprecedented land-use

accomplishment, praised by local gov-ernments and environmentalists alike.What had previously been a scarredlandscape of overgrown gravel pits andditches is now a water-purifying,wildlife-benefiting, perfectly function-ing wetland complex filled with threat-ened and endangered species, hikingtrails and a nearby canoe access.

Bob Neal, a former Lake CountyBoard member and Finance Committeechairman for the Lake County ForestPreserves District during the early 80s,said he’s so proud of the accomplish-ments of the wetlands project that,even during his retirement, he remainsactive in wetlands promotion.

“It means that much to me,” Nealsaid. “We went through a lot of criti-cism early on, but the wetlands have

proven their benefit to the communityover and over since that time and I feelreally good about continuing to pro-mote these wetlands.”

Neal recently coordinated a landdeal for an additional 60 acres of heavi-ly modified Des Plaines floodplain near-by to be converted back to wetlands.Downstream, local governments inflood-prone areas couldn’t be happier.

“It’s been a tremendous asset to thevillage in terms of flood control. No ifsands or buts about it,” Gurnee VillageAdministrator Jim Hayner insisted. “I’vebeen here more than 30 years, I’vebeen through six floods, and I’ve seenit all.”

16 / OutdoorIllinois June 2008

Open to the pubic, the wetland

demonstration area includes trails

through the wetlands and a canoe launch

along the Des Plaines River.

In addition to providing valuable

wildlife habitat, the Des Plaines wetlands

function to improve water quality and

store flood waters.

Hayner said he’s taken helicopterrides after major storms and floods tosurvey the impact on his community.When the helicopter passes near theDes Plaines wetlands, he sees theremarkable function of the wetlands asthey capture and hold water thatmight’ve otherwise flooded homes andbusinesses in Gurnee.

“It’s always amazing to see howmuch water those wetlands hold,”Hayner said.

The attraction of the wetlands alsoappeals to the original, post-glacialinhabitants as well. Even amid this high-ly developed region of northern Illinois,wetland-dependant wildlife rangingfrom aquatic microorganisms to sand-hill cranes have returned.

According to Wetlands Research,Inc., the majority of wetland birds uti-lizing the site today—198 bird specieswere documented as of 2002, includingthreatened and endangered species—appeared within the first two years ofconstruction. That indicates birds areable to locate new wetlands quickly,even in heavily developed regions.

It also indicates there is a shortage ofsuch habitat in the region.

“Beavers are back on the site,” Heysaid with pride. Whereas early settlerseradicated beavers and destroyed theirdams to drain wetlands, Hey is thrilledto see these natural wetland-makersmaintaining a site built by humans. Visi-

tors to the Des Plaines River WetlandsDemonstration Project can observefunctioning beaver dams maintainingwater levels in ways similar to how theoriginal wetlands might have appearedfor thousands of year.

Site manager and ecologist KathyPaap said people hiking along trails atthe wetlands will see a stretch of land-scape not all that different than whatthe first European settlers observed.

“I’m not going to pretend that theserestored wetlands have been able toturn back the clock and recreate every-thing Native Americans and early set-

tlers once saw,” Paap said. “But, insome ways, it’s like stepping into amuseum, seeing a snapshot of whatpeople would have witnessed andexperienced while providing for mod-ern needs such as flood control,wildlife habitat and water quality.”

She added the trails through the wet-lands include self-interpretive signs toguide and explain the nature of the sitefor visitors.

As part of the Lake County ForestPreserves, the Des Plaines River Wet-lands Demonstration Project is open tothe public year-around. Access to thesite and popular canoe launch along theDes Plaines River is available alongWadsworth Road, just east of IllinoisRoute 41. The canoe launch at the DesPlaines River bridge is maintained bythe forest preserve, as well as a parkingarea to the west for access to hikingtrails. The site is open from 6:30 a.m. tosunset every day, year-around. Knowthat during severe weather and danger-ous water conditions, the canoe launchis sometimes closed.

For more information, contact theLake County Forest Preserves at (847)367-6640 or see ww.lcfpd.org.

To learn more about WetlandsResearch Inc, visit http://wetlandsresearch.org.

Nearly 200 birds have utilized the restored

wetlands, including the Illinois-endangered

yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus

xanthocephalus).

June 2008 OutdoorIllinois / 17

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