Danada Layers in Rebound

Before the first settlers cleared the land, a wild grove of hardwood trees stood in this area. Over the years, the woodland was planted with new species including the many pine trees that remain today. By the mid 1940's, Danada Farms Thoroughbreds grazed the area which was by then planted with grasses and enclosed by black - rail fences. In the late 1970's Ada Rice sold the last of her horses, and the land reverted to the wild. It quickly became overgrown with European buckthorn and bush honeysuckle. To restore this woodland, the Forest Preserve District has removed non-native and invasive species that choked out native plants. Send other species to allow some saplings to reach their full growth. This process has opened the floor to sunlight and allowed a shrub layer made up of grasses, sedges, forbs, ferns and young saplings to grow. When healthy, the new woodland's offspring will carry this forest preserve into the future