Finally, Bell Bowl was an "ancient" or "remnant" prairie, meaning it had not been disturbed by humans for hundreds of years. Finally Gov. Several state and federally Threatened and Endangered species occur at Bell Bowl Prairie. We need to kick it in gear,Neece says. Save Bell Bowl Prairie Its older than the pyramids.. Sites like Bell Bowl Prairie, which has been managed by staff and volunteers for years, need to be protected to ensure a future for rare birds like Bobolink and the Illinois State Endangered Loggerhead Shrike, another resident of Bell Bowl Prairie. We know that there are threatened and endangered species that live there and that pass through there on their migrations., While the bee is this standoffs legal basis, the prairie is more than just a pollinator habitat. Nearly 3 months later, it's unclear to the public when the project will resume. #SaveBellBowlPrairie on Instagram: ""Airport officials said this week In the case of Bell Bowl Prairie, the Greater Rockford Airport Authority has neither dedicated nor registered it. The prairie is located at approximately 6045 Cessna Drive in the city of Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois. By any measure, the airport had become an economic juggernaut since a UPS hub relocated there from Iowa in the 1990s. Sod rescue operation of Bell Bowl Prairie underway by Winnebago Forest When the United States entered World War I in 1917, the Army bought 6,000 acres of farmland south of Rockford to build a training camp for 56,000 troops and named it after General Ulysses S. Grant. Bell Bowl Advocates Say Work Is Just Beginning: 'This Is a Lot - News Section 15 of the The Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act urges public agencies to dedicate suitable natural areas under their stewardship. Its an uh-oh moment, again, for the Bell Bowl Prairie in north central Illinois near Rockford, a 21-acre sliver of rocky earth that supports a rare combination of plants, soils, insects and microorganisms. It's really like having the redwood trees here in the state of Illinois.. It completed and submitted a required environmental assessment to the Federal Aviation Administration. Earlier this week, environmentalists circled Rockford City Hall and called for city officials to intervene in the impending destruction of the Bell Bowl Prairie. The $50 million expansion, which is 65% complete, has been put on hold until the airport conducts a second biological assessment to be reviewed by the feds. View the timeline of events around Save Bell Bowl Prairie efforts. Bell Bowl Prairie is a site of both ecological and historical importance. ROCKFORD A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit aimed at protecting Bell Bowl Prairie from destruction under an expansion of the Rockford airport, but the case could return to court pending the outcome of an environmental review. Ramirez-Franco grew up in northern Illinois. ", Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 14_8_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/14.1.2 Mobile/15E148 Safari/604.1, Winnebago County property values hit highest mark every, and bigger tax bills could follow, Winnebago County property values hit highest mark ever, and bigger tax bills could follow, Public art meets industrial history in this new mural project in Rockfords Davis Park, Opinion: It's time for the city to show south Rockford it cares. Today, there is less than one-hundredth of one percent (0.01%) of original, remnant prairie remaining in the state of Illinois, approximately 2,500 acres. There are folks kind of driving by on Beltline Road and paying attention to see if all the construction equipment that's out here is on the move.. HB6 has been called the worst energy policy in the country. Photos:Protecting the Bell Bowl Prairie during Rockford airport expansion The airport's plans to build a 100,000-square-foot air freight facility, storm water detention basins, ramp expansion . We do not want to stop this airport expansion, Kerry Leigh, the executive director of the land institute, told WBEZs Reset in March. We protect birds and the places they need. After the short gathering, they headed inside for the GRAA Board Meeting. Leadplant (Amorpha canescens) with bumble bee (Bombus sp. The Chicago Rockford International Airport wants to grow. Only a tiny fraction of this specific prairie type remains today in Illinois. Bell Bowl had been one of the few remaining prairie remnants in Illinois, land carved by the retreat of the last glaciers and never plowed under or developed. The Bell Bowl Prairie harbors observations for the State-endangered Large-flowered Beard Tongue and Prairie Dandelion. The prairie is also home to rare native plant and animal species including the large-flowered beard tongue, the prairie dandelion, and the rusty patched bumble bee. When we no longer have these sites to refer back to, she says, were going to no longer know where were going.. At the very least, DAlessandros greenway proposal might be a starting point for a long-term discussion about the airports growing footprint, which has another 1 million square foot of construction on the drawing board. They have failed to ensure, she said, that their funding, their authorization, their construction, their expansion and the operation of the Rockford airport does not jeopardize the health and existence of the federally listed endangered rusty patched bumble bee.. The airport still plans to bulldoze the rest of Bell Bowl Prairie. The insects that are visiting, they see everything in technicolor., Grycans friend, and fellow conservationist, Jessie Crow Mermel, described a reverence standing there. Over the past seven years Grycan had probably spent more time than anyone tending to Bell Bowl, pulling invasive wild parsnip, leading controlled burns, and getting down on his hands and knees to search for prairie dandelion and large-flowered beardtongue, both endangered in Illinois. We can definitely feel some people burning out, especially with multiple deadlines that weve been working against, Neece says. However, at northeastern Illinois prairies that are effectively protected and managed, Bobolink are actually increasing at a rate of 2% annually over the past ten years (Bird Conservation Network, 2013). PublishedSeptember 24, 2021 at 5:43 AM CDT. There could be a solution in reach, if the two sides start talking. The days six-legged honorees would soon awaken from hibernation in a nearby patch of habitat called Bell Bowl Prairie, which advocates have spent the better part of a year trying to save from bulldozers. Following a lawsuit that activists filed in late October, the new work date shifted to March, then to June as federal agencies looked again at how construction could affect the bee. Construction on the Rockford Airport cargo expansion has come right to the edge of Bell Bowl Prairie. This bowl-shaped area was named after the camp commandant, Gen. George Bell. A small group of committed conservationists have been monitoring the Bell Bowl Prairie since the fall. That change would save about 3.9 additional acres of prairie, leaving 6.2 total acres intact after construction, according to a draft biological assessment that the Federal Aviation Administration submitted to the FWS in April as part of the ESA consultation process triggered by the bee sighting. I drove 183 miles to be here today, said White. Its the least you can do. We should have been able to do something.. Representatives of the airport declined comment for this story, but they previously said they anticipated the review would be complete this fall. (Courtesy of Jessie Mermel). Photo: Howard Arndt/Audubon Photography Awards, Help power unparalleled conservation work for birds across the Americas, Stay informed on important news about birds and their habitats, Receive reduced or free admission across our network of centers and sanctuaries, Great Egret. And Kerry Leigh with the Natural Land Institute doesnt disagree. When a remnant prairie is destroyed, there is no scientific way of replicating that assemblage of plants, animals, and soil biota anywhere else. As a civic reporting fellow at City Bureau, a non-profit news organization that focuses on Chicagos South Side, Ramirez-Franco produced print and audio stories about the Pilsen neighborhood. Until that time, share this link to spread the word: www.savebellbowlprairie.org, Category I Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI) site. Absolutely. To fight the fatigue, local organizers have rallied activists to sign petitions, contact elected officials, protest outside Illinois Gov. There are still roughly 14 acres of prairie land left in the area, including about 5 acres of high-quality prairie, according to NLI. There is less than one-hundredth . Bumblebee (bombus sp.) Rare, threatened, and endangered species will be destroyed. The grassland birds that call Bell Bowl Prairie home are amongst the fastest-declining suite of birds in North America. A small group of committed conservationists have been monitoring the Bell Bowl Prairie since the fall. The rest has been mostly plowed up, paved over and eradicated in the mad rush of commerce and agriculture across the past 200 years. Situated within the airports 3,000 acres, Bell Bowl had long been managed by the Natural Land Institute. Kerry Leigh, executive director of the Natural Land Institute, says she hopes officials do the right thing. New litigation over Bell Bowl Prairie may be on the horizon Ancient prairie, home to endangered bees and rare plants, may soon be Visit your local Audubon center, join a chapter, or help save birds with your state program. This article is byKevin Haas. Bell Bowl Prairie contains some of the most intact and undisturbed natural plant communities found anywhere in the state of Illinois. (Courtesy of Jessie Mermel) At 6 a.m. Thursday, bulldozer headlights appeared at the top of a small hill and in that moment, the 18-month fight to save ancient Bell Bowl Prairie ended. In addition, the airport proposed conservation measures such as planting a 52-acre pollinator habitat at a different site, barring pesticide use on the remaining prairie, and limiting any ground-disturbing activity to before March 15 to prevent growth of flowers that would draw bees to nest there during construction. It seemed pretty willful, Mermel said of the airports insistence on paving over Bell Bowl. Rockford Airport officials suspended construction at the Bell Bowl Prairie in the fall to re-evaluate their plan with state agencies. Nearly 50 years later, Whites back in Rockford trying to convince the Airport Authority to protect the prairie instead of building over it. For its defenders, the tiny remnant prairie is a cherished reminder of a less spoiled, almost mythic, past the land of indigenous tribes, bison and tallgrass plants shimmying in the breeze. Oakley would not comment on the airports relationship with the conservation group behind the suit, or on proposals to move the road, but highlighted a concession it made in the plan by eliminating a pond to temporarily hold water overflow. Rockford landscape architect Domenico DAlessandro sketched out a detailed proposal that asks the airport to dedicate 38 acres to connect Bell Bowl to one of the regions most valuable and high-quality natural areas at the confluence of the Rock and Kishwaukee rivers a place where the fishing is bountiful and rare mussels have reappeared in the waters. Aerial: RFD; annotation and illustrations by Liz Anna Kozik. JB Pritzker. A Species in Greatest Need of Conservation in Illinois, Bobolink have been declining at an alarming -6.76% average annual rate across their range since 1966 (Sauer et al. By Kevin Haas Rock River Current Get our mobile app. These connected habitats provided opportunities for thousands of species of plants, birds, insects, mammals, fungi and more to prosper for thousands of years. But at the rate its going, its all going to be concrete someday anyway.. The Federal Aviation Administration confirms that the Airport Authority has made a commitment to halt construction work until June 1. And it's an incredibly rare piece of land, said Crow Mermel. With Grycan was his wife, Melissa, a natural heritage biologist in the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Join today, Celebrate Audubon Texass Centennial with a Virtual Tour of the Coast, Short-term Federal Management on Colorado River Needs Long-term Outlook, UCLA Students Promote Inclusive Birding with LGBTQ+ Pride Event. Rockford Airport officials have not responded to a request for comment. Now the U.S. Bell Bowl Prairie supporters gathered Thursday in the parking lot at 60 Airport Drive in Rockford ahead of a 5 p.m. meeting of Greater Rockford Airport Authority. It was really amazing to me. loss and other threats. The site also supports habitat and contains many plants that co-occur with the federally Threatened prairie bush clover (Lespedeza leptostachya), which is known to occur in the region. That growth accelerated with the 2016 arrival of Amazon, one of the worlds largest companies. And so, as summer brightens Bell Bowl Prairie, theyre bracing for a decision that might not go their way. It remits $2 million a year in property taxes to schools and public services. Just this past week, 23 species of birds and wildlife were removed from the endangered species list and officially declared extinct by the U.S. How a tiny bee became a big problem for an Amazon-fueled expansion in Illinois. In summer 2021, the institute was alerted to construction activity near the prairie, the first it was made aware of the airports expansion plan, a plan agencies including the Illinois Department of Natural Resources had signed off on without consulting Natural Land Institute. Contact Patty Wetli:@pattywetli| (773) 509-5623 |[emailprotected]. The idea of bigger and bigger is too ingrained.. Spread the word. (Courtesy of Cassi Saari) A rare patch of 8,000-year-old remnant Illinois prairie has been granted a new three-month lease on life, as the Greater Rockford Airport Authority has again delayed demolition of the natural area, slated for March 1, pending additional environmental review. Email him atkhaas@rockrivercurrent.comor follow him on Twitter at@KevinMHaas. In the short term, this is a victory for environmentaliststhe prairie will remain safe for another summer, and the movement has more time to organize. Audubon Great Lakes, a regional office of National Audubon Society, and our 52,000 members in Illinois support halting construction until a more thoughtful plan can be developed that best represents the interests of all stakeholders. While INAI sites may be eligible for legal protection by being dedicated as a Nature Preserve or registered as a Land and Water Reserve with the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, the decision to do either is contingent on the INAI landowner. Back in the mid-1970s, John White designed and directed the Illinois Natural Areas InventoryIllinoiss first statewide survey of significant natural resources. Though saved and preserved, Bell Bowl isnt entirely pristine, said Jerry Paulson, a member of the Winnebago County Forest Preserve board who has spent many of his 50 working years finding and saving prairie remnants. They are able to earn a living and support their family., Jury said the airport could pay to move the prairie plants, or buy other land to preserve. Visit https://www.savebellbowlprairie.org/ for most information related to the movement to #SaveBellBowlPrairie. One person compared it to shattering a stained glass window into a thousand pieces and reassembling it. To reduce its impacts on this ancient habitat, the airport's latest plan includes an updated construction design that removes a stormwater detention area included in earlier plans. Outside of the Winnebago County Court House in Rockford earlier this week, Kerry Leigh, the executive director of the NLI, announced to a crowd of advocates of the rare prairie that as it stood there would be no reprieve for the Bell Bowl Prairie. Let's hope the weather doesn't let them [start], Leigh had said after the ruling came down. Sign up for our morning newsletter to get all of our stories delivered to your mailbox each weekday. This is the third time in 100 years that the small and vulnerable Bell Bowl has had to be saved. Cargo aircraft are visible behind the Bell Bowl Prairie adjacent to Chicago Rockford International Airport on Oct. 20, 2021, in Winnebago County. Chicago Rockford International Airport Bell Bowl Prairie The airport authority canceled several of its public meetings last year. Work resumed early Thursday morning at the Bell Bowl Prairie near the Rockford airport as part of the airport's expansion of cargo operations. In 1978, The Bell Bowl Prairie was included in the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI), a registry of the highest quality natural communities in Illinois. Grassland dependent bird species have lost 53% of their population over the past 50 years. The expansion is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs and up to 600 permanent jobs while growing the airports cargo operations. But the mayor of nearby Loves Park, Gregory Jury, said the airport has put families back to work. The movement to save Bell Bowl was initially bolstered by the discovery of federally endangered rusty patched bumble bees on the site, but ultimately federal agencies such as U.S. Ideal overwintering sites include uncompacted, sandy soils, abandoned rodent nests, downed logs, and soft soil under leaf litter. Bell Bowl Prairie is a remnant dry gravel prairie located on public land in Rockford, Illinois ( Winnebago County ). By, Oklahoma judge throws out a suit seeking reparations for the Tulsa Race Massacre, The U.N. secretary-general says Sudan is on the brink of a 'full-scale civil war', All the prison's presidents: Peru's special jail for ex-leaders is all full up, Elton John bids farewell to the road with the last show on his goodbye tour, Suspended from Twitter, the account tracking Elon Musk's jet has landed on Threads. In 2019,the Chicago-Rockford International Airport initiated a $50 million expansion project to create space for more cargo planes and add hundreds of jobs to the region. At Gray, our journalists report, write, edit and produce the news content that informs the communities we serve. We just watched as this one single bulldozer made pass after pass. As it stands, one last evaluation from the Federal Aviation Administration stands between the airports projected development and the 15.5-acre of prairie habitat, a piece of which represents some of the last remnant dry-gravel prairie left in Illinois. Theres always a story behind prairie remnants.. The 8,000-year-old piece of land, home to natural and human history, has been under watch by the Natural Land Institute since construction was announced for an expansion project at the Rockford International Airport (RFD). What Is Causing the Perplexing Decline of the American Kestrel? A recent consultation with the IDNR determined that 10 different state threatened and endangered species may occur on the site of the airport's projected construction project. Expansion at the Chicago Rockford International Airport can be done responsibly and in ways that do not negatively impact the Bell Bowl Prairie or its rare plants and animals. We remind Mayor McNamara and the city council, said Neece, that they have a responsibility for their constituents to fight for this prairie.. Leigh adds that the goal is not to stop the expansion, only to stop development over the prairie. In a paper published in March, researchers analyzed 32 datasets from around the world and found that small habitats, when totaled to equal the size of one large one, hold more biodiversity and declining species. Get updates about our conservation work and how to help birds. Thats when the Chicago Rockford International Airport agreed to suspend a segment of a $50 million dollar expansion. By, Oklahoma judge throws out a suit seeking reparations for the Tulsa Race Massacre, The U.N. secretary-general says Sudan is on the brink of a 'full-scale civil war', All the prison's presidents: Peru's special jail for ex-leaders is all full up, Elton John bids farewell to the road with the last show on his goodbye tour, Suspended from Twitter, the account tracking Elon Musk's jet has landed on Threads. Bell Bowl Prairie Proponents Have a Proposal to Save Rare Land - News According to the IDNR, there are approximately 25 acres of high-quality dry gravel prairies known to be remaining in the state. Along with grief, theres anger, she said. During the day, these birds quietly forage for insects along the ground. Thursday marked one year since Chicago Rockford International Airport officials put the brakes on a $50 . Bell Bowls steward for almost 50 years, the Natural Land Institute, argues that with minor changes to the design, Rockford can have both airport expansion and preserve a rare prairie remnant. Now, Chicago-Rockford International Airport plans to destroy Bell Bowl Prairie, which contains five acres of this precious biome, as part of a planned expansion. This is not good.. Still, a group of local environmentalists arent willing to risk any last minute changes. Temporary halt to construction continues at Bell Bowl Prairie, a We can do a fantastic program that everyone is proud of, rather than playing shuffleboard trying to fill this wedge shape, DAlessandro said. Theyre doing everything they can think ofcontacting officials, exploring legal options, staging performances as pollinatorsto save this vibrant slice of nature. Preservationists fight to save Bell Bowl Prairie near Rockford airport Soldiers ran up and down the glacial moraines in trench warfare training maneuvers. The grassroots activists arent convinced. . But the wintry mix in the forecast wasn't scheduled to hit until later in the day and weather was not a barrier in the morning. From the road driving by, its hard to see. By that point construction activities had already cut the 22-acre parcel down to 14 acres. Hes been a bilingual facilitator at the StoryCorps office in Chicago. Better yet, one local landscape architect says, redesign the expansion plan to showcase and connect the isolated prairie to nearby open spaces for tourism, recreation and natural resource preservation. Some of these kids are walking out of high school and going to the community college tech school. By Kevin Haas Rock River Current Get our newsletter. Construction at Bell Bowl Prairie halted until June Litigation from the Natural Land Institute was unable to stall the destruction of portions of the Bell Bowl Prairie at the Chicago Rockford International Airport. Pritzkers reelection campaign is broadcasting a commercial touting the Rockford airport expansion. By, Oklahoma judge throws out a suit seeking reparations for the Tulsa Race Massacre, The U.N. secretary-general says Sudan is on the brink of a 'full-scale civil war', All the prison's presidents: Peru's special jail for ex-leaders is all full up, Elton John bids farewell to the road with the last show on his goodbye tour, Suspended from Twitter, the account tracking Elon Musk's jet has landed on Threads. Bell Bowl Prairie is a Category I Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI) site, a designation granted by state biologists that reflects the site's very high ecological quality. Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara declined to comment for this story. Latest news The FAA has given the go ahead to the Greater Rockford Airport Authority (GRAA) to build a road through ancient Bell Bowl Prairie, despite public outcry and available alternatives. Zachary Nauth is a freelance writer based in Oak Park. A map of the airport cargo expansion project from this article, Bell Bowl Prairie is located at approximately 6045 Cessna Drive in Rockford, Illinois. Published March 8, 2023 at 8:31 PM CST Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco / Kerry Leigh, Executive Director of the Natural Land Institute, announces to a crowd that emergency motion was denied. Rare Virgin Prairie In Illinois Gets Reprieve From Bulldozer; Airport All the biodiversity, all the plants, she said. Crow Mermel adds that it is hard to overstate the value of preserving an ecological site like Bell Bowl Prairie. The proposed development of this prairie would jeopardize the existence of one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world and by default the rare flora and fauna contained therein. PublishedJanuary 27, 2023 at 12:20 PM CST. But Bell Bowl Prairie, which lies on the airports property, would be largely paved over and bisected by a new road. Bernheim forest and Bell Bowl Prairie are warnings of increasing This permanent loss of Illinois natural heritage must not be exacerbated by the continued destruction of the few prairie acres that remain. Copyright 2022 WIFR. If you try to move it, it will disintegrate and it will just die away and be replaced by weeds.. Hes been a bilingual facilitator at the StoryCorps office in Chicago. A lawsuit has stopped construction in its tracks and, with it, a strip of land too steep and gravelly to plow has gone from worthless to priceless in the eyes of its two beholders: Conservationists and officials keen on economic development. Threatened and Endangered species seen at Bell Bowl Prairie and on Rockford Airport grounds include: Federally Endangered rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis), State Threatened Franklins ground squirrel (Poliocitellus franklinii), State Endangered prairie false dandelion (Nothocalais cuspidata), State Endangered large-flowered penstemon (Penstemon grandiflorus), State Endangered cats claw (Mimosa nuttallii), State Endangered loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus), State Threatened black-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus), State Endangered northern harrier (Circus hudsonius)*, State Endangered upland sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda)** = recorded on Bell Bowl Prairie eBird page.