(Save David Stocker / Bell Bowl Prairie)
on Wednesday, Natural Land Institute Announced that it was Proceedings in US District CourtAsks judges to issue an injunction to stop the demolition of rare patches of ancient grasslands by Greater Rockford Airport authorities.
“This is 2021. This kind of design and neglect of our natural system should no longer be tolerated at any level,” said Kelly Lee, managing director of the Institute, a reporter Wednesday morning. He spoke at the press conference. “We don’t have to be here.”
Bulldozer is set to excavate bell bowl prairie To pave the way for new roads to be built as part of the expansion on Monday Rockford AirportFreight facility.
“The prairie is Illinois redwood,” Lee said. She added that the bell bowl represents “a fragment that was and is still possible” and accounts for 25 acres of the 80 acres of high-quality or medium-quality gravel prairie remaining in Prairie. Some of them have already been erased by the airport.
The proceedings do not require the airport to abolish the expansion altogether, and conservationists struggle to emphasize, but stop the bulldozer and start talking about alternatives.
“There is a small Yosemite just south of the town (Rockford),” said Steven Holl, Co-Chair of the Sierra Club. Northwest River Valley group. “Sure, it’s worth a moment to think about what we’re trying to destroy and whether there are better options.”
Suspending construction gives conservationists time to thoroughly assess the plants and wildlife in the field. A day’s field survey of no endangered species found in Bell Bowl was cited in a 2018 report that allowed the airport to move forward.
The report and the process by which it was compiled were “worrisomely flawed,” Lee said.Multiple endangered plants and federal government Bumblebee with rusty patch of endangered species She said everything was seen in the bell bowl in the last few months.
Conservationists Airport Authority Committee After months of discussing the compromise, Lee said he encountered either the same “dull, repetitive reaction” or “deafening silence.” If the judge is on the side of the Natural Land Institute and issues an injunction, the board may be pushed to the table.
When contacted by WTTW News, airport authorities did not immediately respond to the proceedings.
Bell Bowl supporters submitted suggestions For airport expansion that incorporates green technology to reduce the expansion footprint, thereby eliminating the need to touch the prairie. For example, rooftop greening, permeable pavement, and underground cisterns could replace the need for three large rainwater reservoirs included in the airport’s plans. Replacing a 16-acre employee parking lot with a parking lot is another idea included in the alternative.
“Destroying the prairie is an option,” said Judy Bernard, a member of the board of directors of the National Land Research Institute. “All (airport) facilities can be designed and built without affecting the prairie.”
Expansion projects have been underway for years, but conservationists have only noticed the impact on Bell Bowl, which is within 3,000 acres of the airport, in recent months. According to Lee, the Naturalland Institute team held a working day in Bell Bowl in July and no one at the airport said a word about the expansion plan.
Environmentalists caught on flat feet were given a short grace when the federal government found an endangered rusty patched bumblebee in Bell Bowl in August. The airport has stopped dismantling the bell bowl until November 1. November 1st was considered the end of the bee foraging season.
grassroots A coalition was rapidly formed to save the Bell BowlBlitz the elected officials and the airport board by email, phone or letter as the clock ticks.
The rally was planned for Thursday, which was chosen to coincide with the airport board’s monthly meeting. was canceled..
Contact Patty Wetli: @pattywetli | (773) 509-5623 | [email protected]
Bellbowl supporters urge to stop bulldozers at Rockford Airport, saying “The prairie is Redwood, Illinois” | Chicago News
Source link Bellbowl supporters urge to stop bulldozers at Rockford Airport, saying “The prairie is Redwood, Illinois” | Chicago News
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