Community Corner
Grant Helps Fund Bison Grazing Area Upgrades
The McHenry County Conservation District introduced a bison grazing area in December at Pleasant Valley Conservation Area in Woodstock.
MCHENRY COUNTY, IL — The McHenry County Conservation Foundation has received a $36,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to help fund its ongoing restoration efforts at a newly created bison grazing area in Woodstock.
The grant will help pay for the conversion of 90 acres of cornfield into prairie land, and for other enhancements inside the bison grazing area. Late last year, the conservation district partnered with Ruhter Bison to bring six bison to Pleasant Valley Conservation Area.
The bison, which historically played a key role in the ecology of prairies and grasslands, are used as a natural land management tool to benefit breeding birds and other wildlife.
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"The bison will do the work of managing the prairie in a far more natural and beneficial way for wildlife," said Brad Woodson Manager of Natural Resources, McHenry County Conservation District, in a statement in December. "It is so important to prairie habitat to have grazers as another restoration tool in land management. Grazers like elk, deer or bison are essential to enhancing the diversity of a grassland habitat – they help keep the balance of habitat structure and species composition of the prairie. We are looking forward to seeing the result."
The $36,0000 DNR grant will help pay for restoration work that will improve the habitat for multiple species in the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan including Eastern Meadowlark, Grasshopper Sparrow, Monarch Butterfly, Henslow’s Sparrow, Upland Sandpiper, Bobolink and Ring-necked Pheasant.
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The grant will also help cover the costs of a Flail-Vac seed harvester, which allows the conservation district to collect more than 1,300 pounds of native seeds per year that are used in habitat restoration projects on conservation district properties throughout the county.
The Illinois Habitat Fund provides grants to appropriate not-for-profit organizations and to governmental entities for projects designated exclusively for the preservation and maintenance of high-quality habitat lands, according to the news release.
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