Stream Corridor and Uplands Buffer Site The panorama above shows the bufferland which connects a 5-acre upstream recovery site of the MIddle Fork to Harrier Marsh in the Wolf Road Prairie Nature Preserve. (September 2003)

1. In the distance and adjacent to the stream corridor and uplands is the first bufferland purchased in Hickory Lane by Save the Prairie Society. It was the first bufferland to undergo restoration in an effort to enlarge Wolf Road Prairie and protect the watershed. The site was later transferred to the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

2. Part of the recovery along the stream corridor and upland buffer is to allow the stream to re-meander naturally.

3. As more seeds and plant materals become available, additional areas of turf grass will be converted to native vegetation.

4. In the background there is evidence of ecosystem recovery along the lower Middle Fork, a continuation of restoration of bufferlands upstream where the headwaters to the Middle Fork begin. There have been several phases of restoration in the headwaters funded by private, state and federal grants.

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