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 The Conserving the Illinois River Legacy initiative combines
support from more than a half-dozen partners and federal funding
to protect, enhance or restore 13,000 acres across 19 counties
bordering the middle and lower stretches of the river. The area
is comprised of large backwater lakes, expansive marshes and
bottomland hardwood forests.
“It’s a major corridor for birds funneling between northern
breeding grounds and southern wintering grounds,” said Michael
Sertle, Ducks Unlimited regional biologist. “The Illinois River
Valley provides critical habitat for waterfowl and other
migratory birds for the food and rest they need to safely
continue their journeys.”
The region’s wetlands are popular with outdoors enthusiasts,
alleviate downstream flooding and help remove pollutants from
rainwater runoff. The Illinois River is rich in waterfowling
tradition. It has a history of extensive market hunting in the
early 1900s to provide food to large cities, has some of the
oldest waterfowl hunting clubs in the United States, is home to
notable decoy carvers and waterfowl call makers and was the spot
for some of the earliest waterfowl research.
But the region has been heavily influenced by human activities.
“During the late 1800s and early 1900s, the area was leveed,
ditched, drained, timbered, cleared, burned, farmed and grazed,”
Sertle said.
About 90 percent of Illinois’ historic wetlands have been lost
and 44 percent of the Illinois River’s 426,000-acre floodplain
has been drained for agriculture. Climate change, which causes
fluctuating rainfall and changes in flooding and native
vegetation, adds another threat.
The Conserving the Illinois River Legacy initiative will protect
1,522 acres of wetlands, restore water to nearly 19 acres of
drained wetlands, and enhance 11,461 acres of existing degraded
wetlands. The project sites will be open to a variety of
different public recreational uses.
The project is funded through a $1 million North American
Wetlands Conservation Act grant with $4.1 million in matching
and non-matching support from Ducks Unlimited, Wetlands America
Trust, The Nature Conservancy, The Wetlands Initiative, Illinois
Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), Peoria Park District,
Friends of Sanganois, Illinois River Valley Conservation Group,
and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partner’s for Fish and
Wildlife Program, with support from the Illinois Natural History
Survey’s Forbes Biological Station.
The initiative has 11 project sites including:
Donnelley-DePue State Fish and Wildlife Area, Hennepin –
Ducks Unlimited and IDNR enhancement of 200 acres with the
Coleman Lake Unit will benefit waterfowl and improve conditions
for waterfowlers.
Emiquon Preserve, Havana – Ducks Unlimited will provide
engineering assistance to The Nature Conservancy’s Emiquon
Preserve, enabling water level management of 5,289 acres of
wetlands to benefit waterfowl, shorebirds and rare species, and
also provide for current and future wetland and waterfowl
monitoring and research.
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The Nature Conservancy’s Emiquon Preserve is part of the
13,000-acre undertaking.
Rice Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area, Canton – Ducks
Unlimited and IDNR enhancement of 2,623 acres within the Goose
Lake and Copperas Creek Unit’s will benefit waterfowl and
shorebird habitat and improve conditions for waterfowlers.
Sanganois State Fish and Wildlife Area, Beardstown –
Ducks Unlimited, IDNR, and Friends of Sanganois enhancement of
400 acres of managed wetlands within the Walk-Ins Unit will
benefit waterfowl and improve conditions for waterfowlers.
“Working in concert with partners like Ducks Unlimited and The
Wetlands Initiative allows us to maximize the return on our
investment in nature. Our combined efforts, which involve a host
of partners, volunteers and donors, have yielded incredible
restoration and protection results in this region while
providing an enhanced experience for both people and nature,”
said Michelle Carr, The Nature Conservancy Illinois state
director. “We eagerly anticipate the infrastructure upgrades
that will protect the Conservancy’s 5,500-acre wetland at
Emiquon as well as our neighboring landowners.”
Randy Smith, Wetland Wildlife Program manager for the Illinois
Department of Natural Resources, said the NAWCA funding
highlights the strong partnership between Ducks Unlimited and
the Illinois DNR.
“We are excited about the potential this funding will bring, and
the ability to enhance some of our traditionally great wetland
management areas, increasing habitat quality for waterfowl,
other wetland dependent wildlife, waterfowl hunters and other
users of our State Fish and Wildlife Areas,” he said.
Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world's largest nonprofit
organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually
disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks
Unlimited has conserved more than 14 million acres thanks to
contributions from more than a million supporters across the
continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program
efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to
fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For
more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org.
[Chris Sebastian] |
