On March 17th, Natural Land Institute (NLI) closed on 149 acres of land surrounding its 4-acre Beach Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve, located at 11500 East Big Mound Rd., Davis Junction in Ogle County.
Beach Cemetery Prairie is a dedicated Illinois Nature Preserve and contains some of the finest remnant prairie remaining in Illinois, as well as providing a postage stamp of habitat for endangered plant species. Less than one tenth of one percent of Illinois’ former 22 million acres of prairie remain. These remnants hold valuable plant genetic resources, as well as valuable soil micro-organisms and fungi that will be needed one day to maintain Illinois’ prime farmland. The site also protects the historic settler cemetery with the graves of the Beach family buried in the 1850s.
Alan Branhagen, NLI’s Executive Director said, “The prairie wildflower display at Beach Cemetery Prairie is unparalleled beginning with shooting stars in spring and ending with asters in fall. It is a place to imagine what the original Illinois landscape looked like. The site is a relic glacier-created mound with a sweeping view to the former railroad tracks – now this open rural landscape will remain as such for future generations to experience.”…