Kankakee Sands | |
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Nearest city | Morocco, Indiana |
Coordinates | 41°03′00″N 87°27′36″W / 41.05000°N 87.46000°W |
Established | 2016 |
Governing body | The Nature Conservancy |
Kankakee Sands is a 10,000-acre (4,000 ha) restored tallgrass prairie in Kankakee County, Illinois and Newton County, Indiana. [1] [2] It is managed by The Nature Conservancy staff and volunteers. The Efroymson Restoration at Kankakee Sands is 8,400 acres (3,400 ha) of prairies and wetlands connecting Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area, Beaver Lake Nature Preserve, Conrad Savanna Nature Preserve and Conrad Station Savanna. This creates over 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) of dry, mesic and wet sand prairies, sand blows, sedge meadows, wetlands, and black oak savannas.
About 14,000 to 16,000 years ago, sands were deposited from glacial melt waters flowing from the retreating Laurentide ice sheet during the Wisconsin glaciation. [3]
This area is part of the Grand Kankakee Marsh system and the site of the largest natural lake in Indiana until it was drained. Beaver Lake was 7 miles (11 km) long and 5 miles (8.0 km) wide. As a shallow lake, only 10 feet (3.0 m) deep, it was filled with vegetation and wildlife. It was drained by the 1880s. The Nature Conservancy purchased 7,200 acres (2,900 ha) of farmland in 1996 with the aim of restoring as a prairie. [2]
Bison roamed through Indiana when the eastern pioneers first arrived in the state. Explorers reported bison in the 1600s and 1700s. An 1824 traveler encountered a single bison near the modern location of the preserve and shot it. Bison were extirpated from Indiana by 1830. [4] Twenty-three American bison were introduced to the Kankakee Sands in October of 2016. The bison are from the Wind Cave National Park. Bison were indigenous to Indiana until exterminated by 1790. The bison provide management of the grasses on the prairie. [5] They prefer grasses and sedges, leaving the flowering plants, which support a range of insects and animals. [6] In addition, the bison, reduce the height of the plants, supporting ground dwelling birds. As of 2021 the bison herd had grown to more than 90 individuals. [7]
The preserve supports a wide variety of plant and animal species.
The conservancy maintains a dozen herds through North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Conservancy bison herds:
Kankakee Sands | |
---|---|
Nearest city | Morocco, Indiana |
Coordinates | 41°03′00″N 87°27′36″W / 41.05000°N 87.46000°W |
Established | 2016 |
Governing body | The Nature Conservancy |
Kankakee Sands is a 10,000-acre (4,000 ha) restored tallgrass prairie in Kankakee County, Illinois and Newton County, Indiana. [1] [2] It is managed by The Nature Conservancy staff and volunteers. The Efroymson Restoration at Kankakee Sands is 8,400 acres (3,400 ha) of prairies and wetlands connecting Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area, Beaver Lake Nature Preserve, Conrad Savanna Nature Preserve and Conrad Station Savanna. This creates over 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) of dry, mesic and wet sand prairies, sand blows, sedge meadows, wetlands, and black oak savannas.
About 14,000 to 16,000 years ago, sands were deposited from glacial melt waters flowing from the retreating Laurentide ice sheet during the Wisconsin glaciation. [3]
This area is part of the Grand Kankakee Marsh system and the site of the largest natural lake in Indiana until it was drained. Beaver Lake was 7 miles (11 km) long and 5 miles (8.0 km) wide. As a shallow lake, only 10 feet (3.0 m) deep, it was filled with vegetation and wildlife. It was drained by the 1880s. The Nature Conservancy purchased 7,200 acres (2,900 ha) of farmland in 1996 with the aim of restoring as a prairie. [2]
Bison roamed through Indiana when the eastern pioneers first arrived in the state. Explorers reported bison in the 1600s and 1700s. An 1824 traveler encountered a single bison near the modern location of the preserve and shot it. Bison were extirpated from Indiana by 1830. [4] Twenty-three American bison were introduced to the Kankakee Sands in October of 2016. The bison are from the Wind Cave National Park. Bison were indigenous to Indiana until exterminated by 1790. The bison provide management of the grasses on the prairie. [5] They prefer grasses and sedges, leaving the flowering plants, which support a range of insects and animals. [6] In addition, the bison, reduce the height of the plants, supporting ground dwelling birds. As of 2021 the bison herd had grown to more than 90 individuals. [7]
The preserve supports a wide variety of plant and animal species.
The conservancy maintains a dozen herds through North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Conservancy bison herds: