Glenbard Prairie

About the Program
Exelon Corporation’s ComEd is an energy utility company headquartered in Chicago. The Lake Renwick Prairie program manages 11 acres of grassland habitat in a right-of-way in Plainfield, Illinois located about 40 miles west of Chicago. Connecting to the Churchill Prairie Nature Preserve, this program began in 2012 to help restore native species in this prairie habitat for the benefit of pollinators and other wildlife, predominantly through invasive species management. The program follows ComEd’s Prairie Standardization Plan for prairie restoration as one of more than 40 ComEd Prairie Program locations that cover over 500 acres statewide. This long-term corporate strategy includes a goal of integrated ecosystem management by combining biodiversity with environmental conservation and restoration, emphasizing prairie ecosystems that benefit native pollinator species.  

Practices and Impacts

• An inventory from 2022 found a total of 140 species, 99 of which are native to the area. The plants found mostly include flowering herbaceous plants, along with some grasses, sedges and shrubs.
• Management activities include the selective and periodic use of herbicides and prescribed burns to help control invasive species.
• Since 2016, native vegetation cover has increased by 15% and overall species diversity has increased by 70% to include 99 species, such as Canada goldenrod and sawtooth sunflower. These are great successes, and the high presence of forbs provides food sources for many pollinators found on-site like the black swallowtail and eastern-tailed blue.