Trees removed for rail improvements near Funks Grove replaced

Posted on May 20, 2017
Tom Brooks of the Illinois Department of Transportation speaks with schoolchildren last week at Sugar Grove Nature Center about tree mitigation. (Photo courtesy IDOT)

By Greg Halbleib

FUNKS GROVE – Hundreds of trees removed for high speed rail improvements have been replaced near Funks Grove.

The Illinois Department of Transportation planted more than 500 tree seedlings near the Sugar Grove Nature Center and about 1,300 on 12 acres along Timber Creek.

The new trees will not only restore the areas disrupted by the rail construction, but also improve the habitat of the endangered and threatened bats at the nature center.

IDOT partnered with other state and federal agencies as well as the nature center and the Funks Grove Cemetery Association for the tree planting. The center dedicated the newly-planted area last week.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].

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