Two rare and valuable natural features of the Preserve include the Wagner Fen and Flint Creek.
Wagner Fen is co-owned by the Barrington-based Citizens for Conservation and the Village of Tower Lakes. In 2001, the Lake County Forest Preserve’s 55-acre Wagner Fen portion of Grassy Lake Forest Preserve was dedicated as an Illinois Nature Preserve, in conjunction with the 45 acres previously dedicated by the Citizens for Conservation. Combined, the Wagner Fen nature preserve complex totals 100 acres.
The Fen is an ecologically valuable wetland home to eight endangered and threatened species, including the bog violet and the beaked spike rush. Citizens for Conservation and Forest Preserve natural resource crews have worked together to successfully preserve and restore Wagner Fen. A biological control project designed to eliminate the non-native purple loosestrife from Wagner Fen has resulted in almost complete eradication of the evasive plant species from the site.
Flint Creek is one of the healthier streams in Lake County and in the state of Illinois. Its quality rating of a Grade B is considered rare for Illinois. Lake County Forest Preserve staff have restored stream banks along the Flint Creek corridor, with help from a grant from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Streambank Stabilization program. |
