Restoration at Kankakee Sands

COOPERATIVE CONSERVATION CASE STUDY

Connecting the Pieces

Location: Midwest/Northern High Plains

Project Summary: Restoration of both hydrology and native plants on fragments of farmland will add to a mosaic of stream, wetland, prairie and savanna.

Federally Endangered species: the Regal Fritillary Butterfly (Speyeria idalia). Copyright - the Nature Conservancy

Resource Challenge

The primary loss of ecological function within the Kankakee Sands Area is attributed to converting a large marsh / lake system into an agricultural landscape. It was converted through the creation of a network of drainage ditches and tiles. Natural hydrology has been destroyed in this former large lake system and it is difficult to repair. However, because this partnership involves the strong involvement of the locals, the use of multiple authorities from multiple agencies and multiple public and private funding sources ecological function is returning to these areas and there is a renewed enjoyment of these restored natural resources. The following are resource problems addressed by this project:

1. Loss of a natural hydrologic regime and drainage patterns

2. Fragmentation of habitats

3. Loss of natural diversification processes such as fire and hydrologic fluctuation

4. Unnatural sediment loading to nearby streams and rivers

5. Development of diverse riparian plant communities

6. Development of globally threatened plant communities

7. Development of critical habitat for globally and locally endangered fauna

This project affords the opportunity of not only addressing issues associated with the above problems, but continues the movement to a large area of the most significant surviving wetland, prairie and savanna habitats in Indiana and Illinois. This project affords the opportunity for the partnership to provide enough land for large-scale and meaningful restoration projects that have the potential of providing the size and quality of critical habitat not only for Federally list species (i.e. regal fritillary butterfly), but a multitude of locally rare and important species.

Examples of Key Partners

The Kankakee Sands Area partnership includes the following local, private and federal interests:

Local - Private

Ø The Nature Conservancy

Ø Indiana Department of Natural Resources

o Division of Fish & Wildlife

o Division of Nature Preserves

Ø Indiana Department of Environmental Resources

Ø Northern Indiana Public Service Company

Ø Cedar Lake Fish & Game Club

Ø National Fish & Wildlife Foundation

Federal

Ø US Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District

Ø US Environmental Protection Agency

Ø US Fish & Wildlife Service

Ø US Department of Agriculture

Results and Accomplishments

The Kankakee Sands Area restoration is designed to alleviate the threat of biodiversity loss. Where isolated grasslands now seemingly float in a sea of agriculture, the partnership will create connections that allow these remnant communities to ecologically communicate with one another. In short, the partnership expects that the restoration will remove habitat fragmentation, thus transforming the land into a seamless expanse through which imperiled species and ecological processes flow and ebb. What was once farmland will be transformed over time into a mosaic of stream, wetland, prairie and savanna, thus altering the landscape dynamics of the Kankakee Sands Area into a viable system that achieves the partnership’s mission. The following is a list of goals set by the partnership:

Ø Restoration of degraded environments

Ø Energy and resource conservation

Ø Access to, and enjoyment of parks, urban forests and open spaces

Ø Protection of wildlife and creation/maintenance of habitat

Ø More effective land use, growth and stewardship decision-making

Ø Protection and enhancement of natural resources

Ø Protection of biodiversity and pristine systems

Ø Achievement of environmental sustainability

Innovation/Highlight

Restoration of small parcels of farmland contributes to a seamless 30,000 acre project which is home to globally and locally endangered flora and fauna.

Project Contact

Gene Fleming
Chief, Environmental Formulation and Analysis Section, Planning Branch
US Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District
111 North Canal St, Suite 600
Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 846-5585
Eugene.J.Fleming@usace.army.mil

Chip O'Leary
Site Ecologist
The Nature Conservancy
3294 North US 41
MoroccoIN 47963
(219) 819-0054
co'leary@tnc.org

Website: http://nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/indiana/preserves/art2375.html

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