The
City Colleges of Chicago are extremely fortunate to have a 10+ acre, natural wetland on its
Olive-Harvey College Campus. No other college around Chicago has something like this.
There is a large amount of native wildlife making its home in the wetland, including
white-tailed deer,
coyotes,
red-winged blackbirds,
prairie crayfish, butterflies, dragonflies, and many native plants.
The CCC Wetland is an
ephemeral or seasonal wetland, meaning it holds water in Spring but dries up in Summer. This is of special importance to amphibians. Frogs, toads, salamanders, and newts love to breed in these kind of wetlands, where there are no fish to eat their eggs. Our wetland is also important habitat for migratory birds: please take a look at our many species on the
Species Photos tab!
Unfortunately, there are also many invasive species disturbing the wetland, especially the invasive plants
Phragmites and
teasel. Invasive species are not native to an ecosystem and are likely to cause environmental harm.
In Spring 2011 we began a comprehensive restoration of the wetland to eliminate invasive species. This will result in many more native species and numbers of animals and plants living in our wetland. Please look at the
Restoration tab and volunteer on the
Volunteer Signup tab!