My Field Trip

The town of Hennepin is a wonderful rural town. My day started at a little country diner with typically cheap breakfasts. From there we reviewed the wetland restorations just to the south. In 2001 it was still a working farm with corn in the fields. By turning off the pumps that kept the land dry behind a levee, the area filled with water. By 2004 the area grew up into a beautiful wetland. Oh, by the way, this was without any reseeding. Amazingly, this land was farmed since early in the previous century and the seed bed still had a lot of seeds of native plants there. Wow!

The first bird I saw here was an orchard oriole. What a pretty bird. Then we went to the observation tower and I saw 2 white pelicans. Yes folks, pelicans in Illinois. And I wasn't at a zoo.

In the afternoon we went over to the other side of the Illinois River and reviewed the nutrient farming area. Goose pond use to have a sandy bottom and a hunting club would cross the pond by boat to get to their hunting area. Now they drive around, because it has filled with sediment from the Illinois River flooding and you can't float a boat on it. There are several reasons why this has happened, but one factor was the reversing of the Chicago River, which raised the Illinois River 2'-3'.

Anyway, the plan is to have step-down ponds that will purify the water as it flows downstream.
This will be a model for the whole of the Mississippi Valley. Hopefully, it will be successful, and will work to recover the 'Dead Zone.'

So why was I there? There are applications that could be used in the District to improve water quality. This will improve habitat and then improve the wildlife along the stream. This is ultimately a long term vision, for what our preserves can become. Oh yeah, there is also the possibility for it to provide revenue to the District. That will help to fund operations and keep taxes down, even with improving District facilities. All Good!