MENDOTA – Lake Kakusha became a little richer on Sunday, April 14.

The LaSalle County Soil and Water Conservation District (based in Ottawa) the Homesteaders 4-H Club, and members of the Friends of Lake Kakusha group planted 25 trees on the grounds to help bolster the natural habitat.

“Our association put out a request asking if we needed trees. We put in a grant application for 25 oak trees,” said Audrey Moreno, who is part of the LaSalle County Soil and Water Conservation. “The grant writer, Ashley Curran, who is with the state soil and water organization, gave me a call and said the grant was accepted and we could have the 25 trees.

“We’ve been working in this area (the western side of the lake) for a couple of years. The invasives have been carried out. This is a natural oak savanna, so we decided this was a great place.

“Part of the grant is the 4-H Club has to be involved. We have the LaSalle County Homesteaders 4-H Club, which includes residents of Mendota and LaMoille, helping us plant the trees.”

The trees being planted, 12-15 feet apart, were white oak, burr oak, and red oak. Moreno explained red oak leaves are sharper on the ends, the white oak leaves are rounded, and burr oak is furry. Each of the three oak trees are native to Illinois and to Mendota.

The 4-H group had 10 planters – Moreno was joined by husband Randy Moreno and Curran, and Bob Chinn, Amy and Dave Brewer were in attendance to take photos and help the planters.