226 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



FOEEST DISTRIBUTION AT THE ENDS OF THE 

 LAKE CHICAGO BEACHES 



Lillian Marguerite Simmons, Northwestern 

 University 



introduction 



The work for this study has been carried on in connec- 

 tion with an ecological survey of the same region. The 

 problem undertaken is to determine the location and 

 character of the present forest areas and from the re- 

 sults of this investigation to decide upon the nature of 

 the more extensive forests which occupied this region 

 in the past. 



The area covered by the study extends along the shore 

 of Lake Michigan a few miles north of Chicago and in- 

 cludes the northern part of Evanston, all of Wilmette 

 and Kenilworth and the eastern part of Winnetka. Its 

 general shape is somewhat triangular, the lake shore 

 forming the north-east side, Simpson Street, Evanston, 

 the south, and the Gross Point Road and the section lines 

 west of sections 16 and 21 of New Trier Township the 

 west side. The area covers the eastern parts of sections 

 21, 28 and 33 in New Trier and of section 10 in Niles 

 Township and all of sections 16, 22, 26, 27, 34 and 35 

 in New Trier, 11 and 12 in Niles and the northern sec- 

 tion in Evanston Township. Section 12 of Niles Town- 

 ship is sometimes included as part of Evanston Town- 

 ship, being within the limits of the City of Evanston. 

 Several of these sections are not complete, the north- 

 eastern portions being cut away by the lake (Figure 1.) 



This region has been settled for a long time and con- 

 sequently the natural conditions have been more or less 

 disturbed. The eastern portion at the present time is 

 largely a residence section while the land on either side 

 of the Gross Point Road is under cultivation in truck 

 farms and greenhouses. Because of the building of 

 towns throughout the sections, the natural physiographic 

 and vegetational features have been obscured and in 

 many places destroyed by draining, grading and culti- 

 vation. 



