The Champaign County Forest Preserve District has added a sixth park, Heron View Forest Preserve, to its properties in Champaign County.
The 98-acre property located along the Sangamon River north of Mahomet, approximately halfway between Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve and the Sangamon River Forest Preserve, was purchased with The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation grant and a donation made by Shawn Tabeling and Brian Keigher of Hidden River Development, LLC., which is developing 12 home sites east of the preserve.
The site is primarily land-locked by private property, but CCFPD staff will be working to provide access to the site from County Road 2600 North in 2021. As a condition of the grant used for purchase, the land will remain largely undeveloped in order to provide wildlife habitat.
Hiking and access to the Sangamon River for paddling are amenities that CCFPD hopes to offer in future years.
As the name suggests, great blue herons are plentiful at the site, with dozens of nests grouped in some large sycamore trees along the river. A majority of the site is bottomland forest, and Virginia bluebells are abundant in the spring. The remaining upland forest area has a good canopy of oak and hickory trees, but the understory needs restoration due to invasion by non-native shrubs like bush honeysuckle, privet, and Japanese barberry.
The purchase grant included nearly $10,000 to kick-start that management over the next year.
Floodplain forests like that found at Heron View help to regulate flood peaks by acting as a sponge that stores water during high volume, and releases water to help maintain flow during drier periods. The forest also removes sediments and nutrients from the river, which improves water quality. The combination of these ecosystem services, wildlife habitat, and recreation opportunities made the property addition a natural fit for the Champaign County Forest Preserve District.
