Land Definition & Management Plan
Early in 2010, the HE Parks Board of Commissioners formally adopted the district’s first Natural Area Management Plan. We’ve changed the shorelines of our lakes by adding natural plant vegetation, called a natural shoreline. Natural shorelines, as opposed to rock borders or retaining wall shorelines, offer many benefits to the community. Natural shorelines add beauty to the landscape. They help reduce excessive growth of algae by protecting the water quality because they prevent the soil from eroding into the lake. Natural shorelines also keep litter from blowing into the lakes. The plants attract a great variety of wildlife such as birds, butterflies, frogs, turtles, and ducks which use the area for nesting, spawning and protection from predators. In addition, the vegetation deters nuisance species like Canadian geese which litter the lake and surrounding area with droppings. Further, by improving water quality and appearance, increasing wildlife habitat, a natural shoreline may even improve property values.
In early 2021, the HE Parks Board of Commissioners formally adopted an updated Natural Area Management Plan, called the “Land Definition & Management Plan,” which served to update descriptions of properties types, with updated management plans per property definition. Each management definition is broken down into various levels, with each level outlining the appropriate procedures for healthy and beneficial horticultural development.
The plan was updated once again in November 2024 after Vogelei Park achieved full Arboretum status, making HEParks one of only two Illinois park district agencies to own a park as a designated Arboretum.
The updated plan to manage our natural areas is below:
Land Definition & Management Plan
