Stretching for 15 miles along the Lake Michigan shoreline from Waukegan to Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Chiwaukie Prairie-Illinois Beach Lake Plain is a dune and swale ecosystem unique in the Great Lakes region.

Belynda Alberte, a natural resources specialist with the Lake County Forest Preserves, said the Lake Plain formed thousands of years ago, creating the combination of dunes, wetlands, savannahs and prairies.

Containing 930 species of plants and 360 different animal species — many are federally or state protected — Alberte said the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, considers the Lake Plain to be of international significance.

“Preserving the Lake Plain is important because it is the last area of its kind,” Alberte said. “Th

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