Ned Brown Forest Preserve

The Ned Brown Forest Preserve, popularly known as Busse Woods, adjoining Elk Grove Village, Illinois and Schaumburg, Illinois, is a 3,700-acre (15.0 km²) unit of the Cook County Forest Preserve system. A section of the northeast quadrant of the forest preserve is the Busse Forest Nature Preserve, which was registered as a National Natural Landmark in February 1980^[1].

Busse Woods biology

Busse Woods, the heart of the forest preserve, is a mature Great Lakes hardwood forest. A 440-acre (1.8 km²) segment of the woods, the Busse Forest Nature Preserve, is listed as a national natural landmark^[1] as a surviving fragment of flatwoods, a type of damp-ground forest formerly typical of extremely level patches of ground in the Great Lakes region. Parcels of land with slow rates of precipitation runoff into adjacent wetlands and streams were likely to develop into flatwoods. A flatwoods forest is characterized by red maple, swamp white oak, and black ash trees. The black ash trees of Busse Woods are threatened by the emerald ash borer, which was reported in Illinois for the first time in 2006.

Other parts of Busse Woods are better-drained and include species more typical of the forests of northern Illinois, such as the basswood, hickory, sugar maple, and white oak, the latter species being the state tree of Illinois.

Busse Woods recreation

There are 10.8 miles of paved bicycle trail, the Busse Woods Trail, through the forest preserve: a 7.7 mile loop and two spurs providing pedestrian and bicycle access to the preserve.^[2] In contrast to the natural area, the northwest and southwest quadrants of the preserve are dominated by Busse Lake, a 590-acre (2.4 km²) artificial reservoir that serves as a flood-control catchment for Salt Creek and by the tall skyscrapers of eastern Schaumburg.

Busse Woods in pop culture

In 1999, San Francisco stoner metal band Acid King released a full-length album named Busse Woods after the forest preserve.

See also

• Cook County Forest Preserves
• Sauk Trail Woods
• North Creek Woods

References

1. ^ ^{a b} NPS NNL Summary page
2. ^ The Busse Woods Trail map.

External links

• Forest Preserve page
• map of Park

Coordinates: 42°02′32″N 88°00′12″W / 42.04209°N 88.003407°W / 42.04209; -88.003407 (Busse Forest Nature Preserve)