Passage III

Life at Emiquon

Near Springfield, Illinois, and about 165 miles southwest of Chicago, egrets dive into still water, minks run through tall bluestem grasses, and on waxy lily pads frogs sit. The habitat of these animals, an expanse of algae-rich marshes and shallow lakes on the floodplain of the Illinois River, did not exist a few years ago. But endless rows of corn have become Emiquon Preserve, one of the largest and most successful wetlands restoration projects in the world.

In the 1920s, water began to be pumped from this area, a vibrant wetland for thousands of years, to make way for the development of a massive farm. Levees were built to block runoff from the Illinois River and, nearby prairies and hardwood forests were cleared. Even so, having lost their habitat, the wildlife that had thrived in the wetlands and surrounding areas disappeared.

The Nature Conservancy, convinced that the area’s wetland ecosystem could be restored, bought the 7,000-acre property in 2000. By gradually shutting off the water pumps and removing the levees, as the ecologists would allow the area to flood. The area’s original water levels, they predicted; would return in about three years. And once the water returned, so would the plant and animal life.

Within two years, many native plants that had lain dormant for decades reappeared, and, today, cattails and American lotus flourishes in the shallows. Ecologists had to intervene to reintroduce native fish, but within five years, several species were spawning in the floodwaters. Above 200 species of birds, including wetland, prairie, and woodland dwellers, have returned to the muddy shoals.

A visitor to Emiquon might notice a popular bird-watching area is impermeable because of flooding, or a walking trail is impassible due to thick mud. (44) The Nature Conservancy stresses that from now on, the shifting waters of the Illinois River and the activities of plants and animals—not human interests—will be what shape these wetlands that have recently been reestablished, the Nature Conservancy asserts.