Division of Conservation Planning

Midwest Region

Grand Kankakee Marsh National Wildlife Refuge (Proposed)

Environmental Assessment
Why a Refuge Here?
The Planning Process
Share Your Thoughts

Environmental Assessment

Scoping for an environmental assessment for the Grand Kankakee Marsh National Wildlife Refuge began in 1997 with a series of public meetings in Illinois and Indiana. The Draft Environmental Assessment was released for public review in March 1998, and the 150-day public comment period closed on August 20, 1998. Issues and opportunities people identified in their comments were incorporated into the revised environmental assessment. The Final Environmental Assessment was completed and a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) in August 1999.

The Environmental Assessment is available on-line.

Why a Refuge Here?

More than 200 state-listed threatened and endangered species and five federally-listed threatened and endangered species are found within the Grand Kankakee River Basin. Habitats that can still be preserved or that can be restored include wetlands, prairie, oak savanna, bottomland hardwoods and riverine habitats. Despite habitat loss and fragmentation, the wetlands of the Kankakee River are a significant breeding area for waterfowl, and the Kankakee Basin supports 100 percent of the eastern population of Greater Sandhill Cranes during migration.

Throughout the nation, losses in habitat and wildlife population continue. Grassland-dependent birds have shown steeper, more consistent, and geographically more widespread declines than any other group of North American birds. The proposed refuge would benefit grassland bird species such as the Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, Grasshopper Sparrow, Henslow's Sparrow, and Dickcissel. More than 99 percent of the oak savanna habitat that once characterized the Kankakee Basin has been lost, but today it contains some of the greatest concentrations of what remains in Illinois and Indiana. Illinois has lost more than 85 percent of presettlement wetlands.

Habitat loss and the resulting declines in wildlife populations are likely to continue as urban sprawl encroaches on the KankaKee River Watershed. The Chicago metropolitan region is predicted to double in size over the next 30 years. Over time, these development processes can increase flood peaks, increase runoff and sedimentation, and subject more property to damage at higher monetary costs.

Planning Process

Several public meetings have been held to obtain citizen input regarding the plan and the future management direction of the refuge. Planning is focusing on upland areas outside of the areas that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would include in its flood reduction efforts. This includes an area located in northeastern Iroquois County, Illinois, adjacent to the Iroquois County Conservation Area and the Willow Slough Wildlife Management Area.

While the Service has a continuing interest in those portions of the Refuge originally proposed in Indiana, the focus for the immediate future is in developing the Refuge in northeastern Illinois. Service efforts in Indiana will focus upon using existing programs, such as the Service’s Partners For Fish and Wildlife Program, to assist landowners who wish to pursue conservation efforts upon their own property.

Planning for the establishment of the proposed Grand Kankakee NWR began with the preparation of an environmental assessment to evaluate the impacts of developing the refuge. The environmental assessment, which was completed in August 1999, determined that no significant impacts would occur. Findings included:

• Economic impacts will be negligible compared to the overall economic base of the Basin.
• The Service would only buy land from willing sellers.
• The Service would offset the potential impacts to the tax base in counties where it purchases land by paying Refuge Revenue Sharing payments.
• Development of the refuge would not adversely impact drainage networks.
• Development of the Refuge would not adversely impact floodplains.
• Development of the Refuge would not adversely impact other planning efforts in the Basin, in particular the U.S. Army Corpos of Engineers' Flood Reduction Study.

Share Your Thoughts

Public involvement is an essential element of comprehensive conservation planning. Comments are welcome at any time throughout this planning process either through e-mail or regular mail. You can write to the Service's Planning Branch at:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Branch of Conservation Planning
Attention: Grand Kankakee Marsh Comment
BHW Federal Building
1 Federal Drive
Ft. Snelling, MN 55111

Last revised December 18, 2007

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