Natural Resource Management Plan Outline
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River Bend Forest Preserve Management Plan -by- Michael Daab and Daniel Olson Natural Resources Department February 2010 Champaign County Forest Preserve District Board of Commissioners Ruth Wene Ed Herricks Bob Toalson Brenda Molano-Flores Christopher White Executive Director Jerry Pagac Director of Natural Resources Daniel Olson Assistant Director of Natural Resources Michael Daab River Bend Forest Preserve Management Plan Acknowledgements We thank the following individuals for contributing their time and expertise on the River Bend Forest Preserve Management Plan. The 2004 River Bend Recreation Area Sub-committee of the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC), lead by Steve Buck and Sally Prunty. Our technical review committee for the Management Plan consisted of Mike Garthaus (Illinois Department of Natural Resources Division of Fisheries), Jeremy Shafer (University of Illinois and the CAC), and Adam Rex and Nathan Hudson (both from the Champaign County Forest Preserve District Natural Resources Department). The editorial review committee was led by Andee Chestnut,Champaign County Forest Preserve Public Relations Director. We also thank Trent Thomas of the IDNR Division of Fisheries for input and review. Front cover pictures by: Michael Daab Left to Right: Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), a view of Shadow Lake, Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) 2 River Bend Forest Preserve Management Plan 2010 Table of Contents Executive Summary .............................................................................................. 4 Part One: Property Overview I. Introduction ................................................................................... 5 II. Original and Existing Conditions ................................................... 5 III. Natural Resource Base Profile and Inventory ............................... 7 A. Climatology ............................................................................ 7 B. Geology and Soils .................................................................. 7 C. Terrestrial Natural Communities .......................................... 10 D. Aquatic Natural Communities .............................................. 11 E. Listed Species ..................................................................... 13 F. Flora .................................................................................... 13 G. Fauna................................................................................... 13 IV. Cultural Resource Profile and Inventory ..................................... 14 V. Infrastructure Impacting Natural Resources ............................... 14 Part Two: Management Approach VI. Resource Base Critical Issues .................................................... 15 VII. CCFPD Natural Resources Department Management Goals, Objectives, and Tasks…………………………………………… 17 VIII. Individual Project Plans A. Direct Seeding Maintenance ................................................ 19 B. Exotics Control ..................................................................... 21 C. Fisheries Improvement ........................................................ 22 3 Executive Summary As part of a strategic planning process, the Champaign County Forest Preserve District staff met in May of 2006 to consider the most critical issues and needs of the District. Goals and objectives were later developed to address these issues. One goal for the Natural Resources Department, as stated in the Strategic Plan, is to “preserve, manage, and increase all of CCFPD’s natural resources.” The first objective under this goal is to “develop a resource management plan for each preserve.” This document is the first realization of that first objective, with the other preserves’ plans to be completed over the next two years. The River Bend Forest Preserve was evaluated for management strategies soon after its acquisition. The 2004 “Site Planning and Management Strategies for the River Bend Forest Preserve” document prepared for the CCFPD by the Citizens Advisory Committee (River Bend Recreation Area Subcommittee) contains a wealth of information from a summary of the acquisition process, to historical information and recommendations for management. The subcommittee, chaired by Steve Buck of the University of Illinois Committee on Natural Areas, completed such a thorough report, that it served as a guiding document to the present management plan. Experts from such agencies as the U.S. Geological Survey, Illinois Natural History Survey, and Soil and Water Conservation Service contributed to the 2004 document. The time and effort these experts put into the original plan will be respected in the current plan, as much of the original report is either expanded upon or repeated here verbatim, merely incorporating the information into a format that will be a standard for management plans for all preserves. There is no need to completely rewrite the static history of the preserve when attempting to focus on the dynamics of future management. There have been many changes at River Bend since the original plan was submitted in 2004, so an updated plan is warranted. While the current plan includes much of the information from the 2004 document, assessments of the state of River Bend and its attributes have been updated, and specific project plans are detailed. Project plans are congruent with recommendations from the 2004 site planning document, and these project plans are the vision of what the Natural Resources Department sets as goals for improving River Bend over the next five years. Opportunities, on the other hand, are a vision of what we may be able to accomplish over a longer term. Once again we have called upon a number of natural resource experts in the Champaign County area to help us visualize immediate and future management of River Bend. 4 Part One. Property Overview I. Introduction The 275-acre River Bend Forest Preserve is located in Mahomet, Illinois (T20N, R7E, Sections 16, 20, 21). The preserve features 2.5 miles of Sangamon River frontage that has been designated as an Illinois Land and Water Reserve since February 2002. It also features two lakes, the 145-acre Sunset Lake, the largest lake in Champaign County, and 28-acre Shadow Lake (see Appendices A & B). River Bend officially became the fourth Champaign County forest preserve in December 2001. The parcel, with an appraised value of $3.6 million, was purchased with a combination of funds, including a $1.8 million Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Open Lands Trust (OLT) grant and $1.8 million matching land value donation from Mid America Sand and Gravel Company (MASG), the owner of the land until the time of purchase. Much of the development at River Bend took place between 2003 and 2005 and included an access road, restrooms, a 1.2-mile multi-use trail, picnic shelter, boat ramp, accessible dock and fishing pier, parking area, and interpretive pull offs and associated signage. Native perennial plants were chosen for the landscaping around the parking lot and shelter. Vegetated buffer strips and swales were included in development in order to minimize any threats to lake water quality. Development costs were in large part covered by an Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant totaling $222,350.00. River Bend provides many recreational and research opportunities. Anglers are able to fish from the bank of the Sangamon or secluded Shadow Lake. Sunset Lake offers fishing from shore, dock, and boat. Those hiking the trails at River Bend are able to see a variety of wildlife, including many bird species. II. Original and Existing Conditions Prior to settlement in the 1800s, the land that is now River Bend was primarily floodplain forest that transitioned to tallgrass prairie to the south (Appendices C & D). Cultural artifacts of Amerindian populations have been found and verify their existence on the site. Upon settlement, much of the area was cleared and used as row-crop agriculture. Mining on the site began in the 1950s and continued until 2008. The outwash terraces are a prime source of sand and gravel aggregates that have been utilized in the construction of local infrastructure such as buildings, roads, sidewalks and bridges. Excavation of sands and gravels 40-to-50 feet below the water table has created deep lakes that make up much area of River Bend (Kemmis and Mehnert 2004). When the CCFPD took ownership of the land at River Bend, evidence of heavy commercial use was scattered throughout the preserve. Initial effort focused on clean up and disposal of materials left on the site. Scouting groups, CCFPD staff, and other volunteers removed tons of trash from the site. Metals were recycled and industrial solvents were properly disposed of or recycled. Evidence of earthmoving activities was highly visible. Vegetation and topsoil were stripped from areas prior to mining and moved elsewhere. Piles of miscellaneous fill materials used as backfill in mined areas were prevalent throughout the preserve. Because of this, low soil quality continues to be a limiting factor in restoration of the site. 5 Several areas were still in row-crop agriculture when the CCFPD acquired the site in 2001. Small tree whips and tree seeds were planted in these areas in 2002 and 2003, but unfortunately due to flooding, poor soils, and the timing of some plantings, most of these plantings failed, with areas that were planted with whips having the largest failure rate. For example, the dogleg field takes on much of the flow of the