Army Corps Nears Rehab of 'Highest Quality' Lockport Prairie Habitats

Photo: Courtesy of the Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve via contributor Ron Molk.

Next year could be pivotal one for the Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve and its adjacent Prairie Bluff Preserve, which may finally receive a crucial renewal that’s been hanging in the balance since 2002.

Officials from the Army Corps of Engineers have reportedly set their sights on 2017 for securing the initiative’s necessary $15 million, two-thirds of which must come from federal funding. The Chicago Tribune published this week that representatives are drafting plans and specifications for the project which aims to, “restore wetlands, solve erosion, improve drainage, control invasive species, enhance habitats and restore the ecosystem.”

Several endangered, threatened and uncommon plant and animal species call the Broadway Street dolomite prairie’s 900 acres home. The Tribune states that they have been at the center of the years-long aquatic ecosystem restoration – one spearheaded by The Corps and Forest Preserve of District of Will County.

The article quotes Ralph Schultz, the forest preserve district’s chief operating officer, in saying:

“The Lockport Prairie habitats are of the ‘highest quality,’ and its dolomite prairie is one of the rarest globally. If we lose those species that depend on this ecosystem, how far will it go?”

Dolomite prairies are one of many varieties found in the Southland, according to the Forest Preserves of Cook County. Their few-inch-deep soil rests atop limestone bedrock — a rare marriage that sprouts “extremely hardy” vegetation.

In Cook County, dolomites are only found along the Des Plaines and Sag valleys, the FPCC says. The Forest Preserve District of Will County lists the Romeoville Prairie Nature Preserve as the having some dolomite land, and The Nature Conservancy ranks these ecosystems among the rarest on the planet.

“Of the $15 million (needed for the project), the forest preserves' share is 35 percent, or $5 million, which is the value of its land at these sites. It will not be paying any additional money for construction, design or restoration,” the story says.

Look to the full Chicago Tribune article for the plan’s history and details, as well as what’s needed to enable the federal contribution.