Pratts Wayne Woods

About the Program
Pratt's Wayne Woods is a 12-acre stretch of native grassland right-of-way managed by the ComEd subsidiary of Exelon Corporation in DuPage County, west of Chicago. The area is bordered by additional restored native grassland and residential and agriculture land. The prairie was seeded to native grassland in 2013 to replace the previous agriculture land use of soybean fields. The Pratt's Wayne Woods program is managed with the overall goal of increasing the health of this grassland ecosystem. This goal is being met through the reduction of invasive species, increasing native plant diversity and abundance, the replication of natural cycles of burning and the use of adaptive management practices.

Practices and Impacts

• In 2013, ComEd consulted with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County to restore the former row-crop area to native prairie. The site is situated between two larger tracts of formerly agricultural land also recently restored to prairie by FPDCC. Together, the restorations comprise over 100 acres of restored prairie habitat.
• Monitoring of the site is performed annually for a list of plant species utilizing software to derive year-to-year changes in the plant community composition and calculate a Floristic Quality Index. The surveys follow established scientific protocol to ensure relevant and rigorous monitoring protocols that contribute unbiased data to inform future management steps.
• The site is managed for invasive plant species with chemical treatment and physical removal. Partners that assist with the management and invasive species control are Forest Preserves of DuPage County with the site selection, University of Illinois- Chicago for technical advice, ComEd’s own Vegetation Management Department, and Stantec that provides technical services and site assessments.
• The team follows an internal Prairie Program by ComEd, the Chicago Wilderness Biodiversity Recovery Plan and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County Habitat Restoration; participates in the Habitat Working Group led by the University of Illinois-Chicago; and is a member of the Electric Power Research Institute’s Power and Pollinators Group. They work to promote native plant diversity, grassland health, reduce invasive plant species and conserve pollinator species.