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Carp-free marshes roar back to life at Hennepin & Hopper
The twin lakes of Hennepin and Hopper are full of water and life again, after the Wetlands Initiative and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) completed a major six-month effort to remove the invasive common carp.
Will BP oil spill widen Dead Zone?
“We were surprised to see the water level return to normal so quickly,” said Gary Sullivan, the Initiative’s senior restoration ecologist at the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge in Hennepin, Illinois. The Wetlands Initiative drew down the lake level last fall and winter to rid the lakes of the carp. Groundwater and spring precipitation have rapidly filled the lakes since the end of the drawdown. “Now the return of the native flora and fauna has been unbelievable, Sullivan said. “Plants are coming back like they were shot out of a cannon, and it’s even early in the growing season. We have seen sago pondweed and water celery, two of the most important species for fish and waterfowl that were once extremely abundant, but are now rarely seen in the Illinois River Valley.”
The massive BP oil spill could worsen an-already present deadly force in the Gulf of Mexico: a growing ‘Dead Zone’ fueled by nutrient pollution from the Midwest Corn Belt. The excess nutrients from cities and farms causes excess algal blooms, which then die off and consume so much oxygen from the water that all aquatic life must flee or die.
2009 Annual Report now available
The Wetlands Initiative has been working to use restored wetlands in the Midwest to remove nitrogen and phosphorus from rivers and streams that carry nutrients downstream to the Gulf. Such wetlands could effectively help reduce the nutrient loads reaching the Gulf. Now scientists are examining if the oil spill will expand the oxygen-starved region of the Gulf. “At the moment, we are seeing some indication that the oil spill is enhancing hypoxia,” or oxygen depletion, said Prof. Nathaniel Ostrom, a biogeochemist at Michigan State University. “It’s a good hint that we’re on the right track, and it’s just another insult to the ecosystem – people have been worried about the size of the hypoxic zone for many years.” Read more on Prof. Ostrom’s research
Restoration and innovation are twin paths to one goal: more wetlands. Read the new Annual Report to find out how the Wetlands Initiative reaches that goal. Watch for your copy in the mail in the coming weeks or request a copy here.
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IN THIS ISSUE
Vote for TWI
Your online vote will help the Wetlands Initiative win a $50,000 grant from the Redwood Creek Winery for restoration at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.
TWI's 600-acre Grant Creek Restoration Project at Midewin is one of nine finalists in the Redwood Creek Winery's “Great Outdoors Project 2010.” TWI is the only finalist in the Midwest. Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is the largest protected restoration area in northeast Illinois and is managed by the U.S. Forest Service. TWI partners with the Forest Service to restore the former Army Arsenal for humans and wildlife. You can vote once a day through August 2010. Volunteers plant Midewin
TWI organized volunteers tp plant about 4,000 young plants at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie on June 17th at the Grant Creek Restoration Project. The native plants form the core of the developing wet and sedge meadow communities now growing on formerly drained and degraded areas. The volunteers were employees at local corporations that have helped fund restoration at Midewin: Tellabs, Waste Management, Alliance Pipeline, and CenterPoint.
More volunteering opportunities
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