A national wildlife refuge is typically a contiguous area of land and water managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the conservation and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.
Learn more about national wildlife refuge in the Kankakee River Basin in Illinois and Indiana, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that detailed planning for the Grand Kankakee National Wildlife Refuge will continue with the development and completion of a refuge comprehensive conservation plan. The Service said it will focus upcoming planning efforts in northeastern Illinois, where support for the refuge is strong.
"The Service has tremendous public support for and interest in this refuge both in Illinois and Indiana," said Jim Leach, refuge supervisor for the Services Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region. "Because we have limited resources, we have decided to focus our planning efforts on the Illinois portion of the proposed refuge at this time."
Leach said the refuge managers position, recently vacated by Tim Bodeen, will not be filled due to budget constraints. Planning for the refuge will be carried out by planning staff in the regional office, located in Fort Snelling, Minn. While it completes the planning process, the Service will enhance its conservation work with private landowners in Indiana with the addition of a Private Lands biologist in the northwestern part of the state. The biologist will assist interested landowners in creating and restoring wildlife habitat on private land in the Kankakee River Basin, Leach said.
"We hope to have the additional Private Lands biologist on board sometime this summer," Leach said. "By doing so, we can continue to support our partners and the many landowners who are seeking ways to participate in the conservation and restoration of this valuable site."
Service planning efforts will focus on the completion of the comprehensive conservation plan for the proposed refuge in Illinois. The Service is currently in the process of preparing a draft plan, and will hold a series of informational meetings in May in Illinois to update the public on the process. The Service began development of the plan in November of 2000 with a Notice of Intent published in the Federal Register. Since then, Service staff have met with a number of individuals and groups interested in the proposed refuge.
For the past several years, the Service has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the Corps seeks ways to reduce flooding impacts in the Kankakee River Basin. In working with the Corps, Leach said, the Service has found that its goals of restoring wetlands in the basin coincide with options for flood control considered by the Corps. Restoring wetlands along the river and in adjacent uplands can assist with flood control as wetlands hold and slowly release floodwater, and also prevent sediment from moving into the river channel.
The Grand Marsh of the Kankakee once stretched from the rivers headwaters near South Bend in St. Joseph County, Indiana, westward to Momence, Ill. There, a rock ledge in the riverbed created a natural dam that formed the vast wetland. The Grand Marsh covered up to one million acres before the turn of the century and was known worldwide as a hunting site for waterfowl and other wildlife. Much of the wetland has vanished with the partial removal of the rock ledge, other drainage projects, and conversion of land to other uses.
In 1999, the Service completed an Environmental Assessment which evaluated various alternatives for conserving the Kankakee River Basins unique resources. The preferred alternative outlined in the EA was establishment of a 30,000-acre national wildlife refuge in the watershed which would conserve and restore wetlands and associated upland areas to benefit fish and wildlife, and provide high quality, wildlife-dependent public use opportunities. While this alternative was approved by the Service, no lands have yet been acquired for the refuge.
"We are not wavering in our commitment to the Kankakee River Basin as an area of national significance and worthy of Service and partner efforts to conserve this resource," Leach said. "We will concentrate our planning efforts and resources where they will benefit the project most, and at this point, that is in Illinois."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses nearly 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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