Stretching for 15 miles along the Lake Michigan shoreline from Waukegan to Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Chiwaukie Prairie-Illinois Beach Lake Plain is a dune and swale ecosystem unique in the Great Lakes region.

Belynda Alberte, a natural resources specialist with the Lake County Forest Preserves, said the Lake Plain formed thousands of years ago, creating the combination of dunes, wetlands, savannahs and prairies.

Containing 930 species of plants and 360 different animal species — many are federally or state protected — Alberte said the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, considers the Lake Plain to be of international significance.

After walking through a trail of vegetation growing out of the sand dunes, members of the Lake Plain tour reach Waukegan’s North Beach on Friday. (Steve Sadin/For the Lake County News-Sun)

“Preserving the Lake Plain is important because it is the last area of its kind,” Alberte said. “There are so many species that rely on it in the area like the pitcher thistle, landing turtle and orchids growing wild.”

Alberte led an educational tour of the Lake Plain on Friday through the Waukegan Dunes, Illinois Beach State Park and the Spring Buff Forest Preserve, in Winthrop Harbor, and the Chiwaukie Prairie Natural Area in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, explaining the significance of the wildlife.

Along with the native plant and animal life, Alberte said the Waukegan Dunes and other parts of the Lake Plain host 300 species of migratory birds, including the piping plovers that find each other at the dunes in the spring to mate. The dunes are the newest part of the ecosystem.

“The sand moves from north to south,” Alberte said. “The root systems were already here and this started growing,” she added, pointing to the vegetation growing out of the sand as she took people on one of the trails.

Ty Kovach, the executive director of the Lake County Forest Preserves, said when making plans for the Lake Plain and the Forest Preserves overall, it is important to take a long-term view. The district is in the process of buying more land to take under its stewardship.

“My view is 100 years,” Kovach said. “How is it going to look in 100 years. We don’t want any species to be lost. We need four (reserved areas) of 10,000 acres each. The Lake Plain is part of it. So much is included in the 15 miles of shoreline.”

Lisa May, Waukegan’s lakefront coordinator, talked about the efforts at the Waukegan Dunes, a mile-long stretch of vegetation growing out of the sand immediately west of the city’s north beach.

“We’re going to formalize these trails,” May said of the four designed paths through the dunes. “We’re going to remove the finger trails,” she added, referring to human-made paths that harm the wildlife. “They’re formed when people go off on their own into the dunes.”

Belynda Alberte talks about the vegetation at the Waukegan Dunes during a tour of four sites in the Lake Plain on Friday in Waukegan, Winthrop Harbor and Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. (Steve Sadin/For the Lake County News-Sun)

State Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, was one of the participants on the tour. She said she was there for education, but she had another purpose knowing preservation projects usually take an infusion of cash.

“Funding is really important,” Johnson said. “There is a lot of uncertainty right now with what is happening. It’s important to know what’s going on so we can help sustain our wildlife.”

While talking to the people at the Waukegan Dunes, Alberte said the natural area has overcome industrial pollution dating to 1885. Most of the factories are gone, but remediation continues.

A free grows out of one of the higher sand dunes at the Waukegan Dunes, which was seen by members of a four-stop Lake Plain tour Friday in Waukegan, Winthrop Harbor and Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. (Steve Sadin/For the Lake County News-Sun)

From Waukegan, the group went by bus to the north end of Illinois Beach State Park in
Winthrop Harbor, and then to the nearby Spring Buff Forest Preserve before crossing the state line to the Chiwaukie Prairie Natural Area.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/29/lake-plain-wildlife-tour/