Statistics
- Gross Acres (ga): 72.532
- Net Acres (na): 72.532
- Trails (Miles): 0
- Wetlands (Acres): 13.01
- Agricultural (Acres): 0
Purchases
- Meling: 01/18/91 - 69.724 ga - (69.724 na) - $906,413.30
- Bott*: 06/21/93 - 2.000 ga - (2.000 na) - $30,000.00
- Johnson: 12/02/04 - 0.808 ga - (0.808 na) - Donation
- Total Cost: $936,413.30
*The Township owns 1.457 acres of the Bott parcel fee simple, while it owns a conservation easement on .543 acres.
Site Notes
Bott prairie, which lies in the northeast corner of the site, is a high quality restored virgin prairie which serves as an excellent seed source for other restorations.
Ecological Description (Applied Ecological Services, Inc. 1997)
Note: The AES report was compiled prior to the acquisition of the Johnson parcel, at the extreme northwest of the site, and as such, it is not included in the description of the site.
The Meling [principle area] parcel is an abandoned tree nursery east of Hwy 45. The soils are mapped as gently rolling, well drained to moderately well drained silt loam on 75% of the property, and poorly drained silt clay loam on the balance. The wet soils occupy drainage swales that course along the west edge and throughout the eastern half of the property. The vegetation consists of rows of old nursery stock invaded by shrubby undergrowth of common buckthorn, staghorn sumac, and grey dogwood under a canopy of cottonwood and willow. The ground flora consists of mainly agronomic weedy species.
The Bott [small eastern] parcel is a small prairie remnant. This property is mapped as poorly drained silt clay loam soil. It is adjacent to the abandoned tree nursery on the Meling parcel to the west. Land to the south is residential development; to the northeast, it is agricultural. The prairie is connected to a wooded wetland system to the northwest, which may be restorable.