Glacial Park is getting over 20 acres restored by the McHenry County Conservation Foundation

A section of Glacial Park Conservation Area in Ringwood is ready to be transformed from agricultural land back to its natural prairie state.

The McHenry County Conservation Foundation secured the money needed to restore 21 acres of Glacial Park’s prairies after a year of fundraising. From time to time, McHenry County will lend land from the park, which is over 3,400 acres. Now, it is ready to be turned over to its natural state to aid in wildlife and our water supply.

The foundation got to its $73,000 goal from an $8,000 donation from The Schwemm Family Foundation, based in Downers Grove, earlier this month.

Back in November, Fairways Foundation granted $25,000. Other donations came from Enbridge Fueling Futures, the Gerry and Bill Cowlin Foundation and individuals. In total, it took about a year to gather all of the needed money.

“Our biggest challenge is getting those fundraising dollars through the door,”

—  Shawna Flavell, McHenry County Conservation District executive director

The McHenry County Conservation Foundation works on raising grant money to support the McHenry County Conservation District in projects that government funding cannot cover alone.

The conservation will plant over 400 pounds of “rich and diverse native seed mix necessary to restore high-quality prairie,” the McHenry County Conservation Foundation said in a news release.

Over 50 different species of native grasses and flowers will be planted, said Shawna Flavell, McHenry County Conservation Foundation executive director. Planting will start this winter and the seeds should start sprouting by next summer.

Within five years, the prairie will be fully restored.

The prairie planting will help with threatened or endangered species, like the monarch butterfly, the rusty patched bumblebee and the Blanding’s turtle. The restored prairie should also decrease sedimentation runoff into the Nippersink Creek while improving groundwater, “which is significant since McHenry County is 100% reliant upon groundwater as its source of drinking water,” according to the foundation.

Now that this project is fully funded, Flavell is on to the next. A boat launch that is American with Disabilities Act compliant is proposed to be installed at the Hollows Conservation Area in Cary. This would allow people in wheelchairs or other accessibility issues to independently enter and exit their kayaks and canoes.

Fundraising is always a struggle because there is always more money needed to fund projects and programs, Flavell said. Their next fundraising event will be at the end of September called The Great Outdoors Beer Trail.

“Our biggest challenge is getting those fundraising dollars through the door,” she said.