ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES ACQUIRES HICKORY LANE BUFFER PROPERTY TO WOLF ROAD PRAIRIE On June 13, 2008 the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) acquired a very strategic buffer property to Wolf Road Prairie known as 8 Hickory Lane. This 5+ acre site contains the origins of the southern tributary to the Middle Fork Creek which then flows downstream into10 Hickory Lane, owned by Save the Prairie Society. Another tributary, the northern tributary of the Middle Fork Creek, begins on 12 Hickory Lane and is owned by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County as buffer to Wolf Road Prairie. The northern tributary joins the southern tributary on 10 Hickory Lane to become the Middle Fork Creek and represents the headwaters to Salt Creek in the western portion of Cook County within the Salt Creek Greenway. The Creek then meanders eastward through the 9 Hickory Lane buffer site, owned by the IDNR, before entering the Wolf Road Prairie wetland. The IDNR buffer property also contains a magnificent stand of vintage oaks and what is believed to be the last remaining arched trail tree on Hickory Lane. In historic times, there may have been four trail trees on the Hickory Lane properties arched as young saplings by native peoples of the area. These oak trees would have pointed to the four directions of the compass. Early settlement maps show that Hickory Lane and Wolf Road Prairie were located within the historic boundaries of the Pottawatomi Village of Sauganaka. Because the area was rich with stands of oaks and hickories, native peoples would have relied upon the nut crops produced by these groves for winter sustenance. Salt Creek is located just a short distance south of the Hickory Lane bufferlands. Prior to statehood, when Illinois was still a vast unexplored territory, it is easy to imagine native peoples hunting and fishing in the pristine lands of the Salt Creek watershed. Many artifacts have been discovered along Salt Creek dating back to the time when humans first migrated into this region as the last Ice Age receded more than 10,000 years ago. The new Hickory Lane buffer site captures the vestiges of those millennia past and provides an unequaled opportunity to restore the land to its native ecosystems. This exciting acquisition by IDNR further secures this vital land from high density development threats and adds to the total acreage preserved on Hickory Lane as buffer to Wolf Road Prairie. Our thanks to IDNR for their acquisition of this beautiful buffer property. return to Save the Prairie Society