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ILA004
CUBA MARSH FOREST PRESERVE
- Location:
- Cuba and Ela Townships T 43N., R10E; Section 29, 30,31,32
T43N, R9E Section 25
Size: 779.18 acres
- Natural Resources
- Communities:
- Basin marsh (B,C)
- Pond (C)
- Mesic loamy prairie (B,C)
- Dry loamy prairie (B,C)
- Rare Plants:
- Hypericum kalmianum /Kalm's St. Johnswort (E)
- Hydrocotyl umbellata /Water-pennywort (E)
- Larix laricina /Tamarack (T)
- Rare Animals:
- Podilymbus podicips /Pied-billed Grebe (T)
- Ixobrychus exilis /Least bittern (E)
- Gallinula chloropus /Common Moorhen (T)
- Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus /Yellow-headed Blackbird (E)
Other Significant Features:
- Dolichonyx orysivorus/Bobolink (W)
- Rallus limicola/Virginia Rail (W)
- Purzana carolina/Sora (W)
- Ela Prairie (6-ac) prairie is a Grade B dry mesic prairie
- Water levels in some wetlands are controlled by weir structures
- Cuba Marsh is the headwaters of Flint Creek
- Wetland birds of site studied by IDNR and Max McGraw surveys
Protection Status:
- Owned and managed by the Lake County Forest Preserve District
- ADID wetlands #178-179
Management Problems:
- Nonnative cool season grasses
- Woody plant invasion
- Eroded soils from past farming.
