Bell Bowl Prairie

Bell Bowl Prairie is a remnant dry gravel prairie located on public land in Rockford, Illinois (Winnebago County).[1] It is considered a Category I Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI) site due to its high quality natural community of native flora and fauna.[2] It is currently owned by the Greater Rockford Airport Authority (GRAA), a public taxing agency in Winnebago County.[3] According to GRAA, the prairie is "one of the best-preserved prairies in northern Illinois – a glimpse of the Rockford area prior to colonization".[4]

Bell Bowl Prairie
Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) at Bell Bowl Prairie
LocationRockford, Illinois
Coordinates42.19°N 89.10°W / 42.19; -89.10

Assessed in 2018, 5 acres of the approximately 22-acre prairie were considered high quality (roughly corresponding to the INAI area), and 4.2 acres were considered "moderate quality".[5] In 2021, most of the prairie was planned to be demolished as part of the Chicago Rockford International Airport's expansion plans.[5][6] Environmental organizations, ecologists, and conservationists working to stop construction within the prairie area argue that the Greater Rockford Airport Authority can redesign the expansion plan without impacting the high quality prairie.[7][8][9] After the Natural Land Institute filed a lawsuit against the airport board and several governmental agencies in October 2021, the airport halted construction to begin a renewed round of environmental consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.[10][11] The Federal Aviation Administration stated construction is on pause until June 1st, 2022.[12]

History and naming

Prior to construction of the Chicago Rockford International Airport in 1954, the surrounding land was used by the U.S. Army as a military facility known as Camp Grant.[4] The bowl-shaped form of the prairie provided a "natural amphitheater" for large gatherings.[4] The prairie was named for its shape and for camp commandant General George Bell.[4] Camp Grant was active between 1917 and 1946.[4] The land was transferred to the Greater Rockford Airport Authority, a public taxing agency in Winnebago County, in 1948.[3][4]

Since the 1950s, the Natural Land Institute and other organizations such as Byron Forest Preserve District, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Boone County Conservation District, Winnebago Forest Preserve District, Rockford Park District, Winnebago County Soil and Water Conservation District, Pheasants Forever, and The Nature Conservancy have assisted with ecological restoration and management of the prairie areas.[4][13][14]

Impacts: Midfield Air Cargo Development

In November 2019, the Chicago Rockford International Airport wrapped up an environmental approval process for a planned expansion of the airport,[6] including a one million square foot cargo facility, aircraft taxiways and truck parking areas, roads, and stormwater detention facilities to accommodate the new impervious surfaces.[5] Most of Bell Bowl Prairie is planned to be destroyed as part of this development effort.[5]

Airport construction was halted until November 1st, 2021 due to the documented presence of the federally Endangered rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis).[6] Other Threatened and Endangered species known to occur at Bell Bowl Prairie include the black-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus), large-flowered beardtongue (Penstemon grandiflorus), and the prairie dandelion (Nothocalais cuspidata).[6][15] The Environmental Assessment inventory did not include these species in the findings. The inventory was conducted in late August.[5] Large-flowered beardtongue and prairie dandelion flower in the spring.[16][17] The rusty patched bumble bee similarly not documented in the 2019 Environmental Assessment.[5][6]

Environmental organizations, ecologists, and conservationists are working to stop construction within the prairie area.[7][8] They argue that the airport can redesign the expansion plan without impacting the high quality prairie.[9] John White, Illinois ecologist and designer of the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory in the 1970s, stated that transplanting the prairie to another location is not a viable method to mitigate the impact.[6][18] According to state botanist Paul Marcum, "If you try to dig it up, it will fall apart".[19]

On October 26th, 2021, the Natural Land Institute filed a lawsuit, asking for an emergency injunction prevent destruction of the prairie, which was scheduled for the following Monday.[10]

On October 28th, 2021, the airport issued a statement that construction within the prairie will be on hold until March 2022, after which construction is scheduled to begin again.[11]

In March 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration stated construction would continue to be on pause until June 1st, 2022.[12]

  • Bell Bowl Prairie and planned Chicago Rockford International Airport development area
  • Rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis)
  • Large-flowered beardtongue (Penstemon grandiflorus)

Flora
Violet wood-sorrel, Oxalis violacea: ten species of bees are known to visit the flowers of this species in Chicago region prairies[20]

A one-day floristic inventory in late August 2018, part of the Environmental Assessment, identified 102 species of vascular plants (66 native).[5] Among these included species with high coefficients of conservatism such as leadplant (Amorpha canescens), prairie tickseed (Coreopsis palmata), prairie cinquefoil (Drymocallis arguta), violet wood-sorrel (Oxalis violacea), wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium), and prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis).[5] Missing from the inventory, but documented by others at Bell Bowl Prairie since, are high quality and state Endangered species such as the large-flowered beardtongue (Penstemon grandiflorus) and prairie dandelion (Nothocalais cuspidata).[6][15]

References
  1. Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Office of Scientific Research and Analysis, Natural History Survey Division. 2002. Upper Rock River Area Assessment: Volume 3: Living Resources. Champaign, Illinois.
  2. "Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI) sites" (PDF). Illinois Department of Natural Resources: Division of Natural Heritage. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  3. "Who we are". Chicago Rockford International Airport. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  4. "Camp Grant and Bell Bowl Timeline" (PDF). flyrfd.com. Chicago Rockford International Airport. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  5. "Draft Environmental Assessment, Chicago Rockford International Airport" (PDF). US Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  6. Ramirez-Franco, Juanpablo (29 September 2021). "Rusty Patched Bumble Bee Stalls Construction over Bell Bowl Prairie". Northern Public Radio: WNIJ and WNIU. Northern Public Radio. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  7. Srocki, Dylan (24 September 2021). "Local environmentalists fight to save prairie at Chicago Rockford International Airport". mystateline.com. WTVO Fox News. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  8. Hagerty, Jim. "Bumblebees, cuckoos among endangered wildlife group wants to save at Rockford airport". Rockford Register Star. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  9. Wetli, Patty (21 October 2021). "Bell Bowl Prairie Proponents Have a Proposal to Save Rare Land and Allow Rockford Airport to Expand". WTTW News. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  10. Wetli, Patty. "Bell Bowl Proponents Sue To Stop Rockford Airport's Bulldozers, Say 'Prairies Are Illinois' Redwoods'". WTTW News. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  11. Wetli, Patty. "Bell Bowl Prairie Reprieve, Rockford Airport Temporarily Pauses Construction". WTTW News. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  12. Ramirez-Franco, Juanpablo (3 March 2022). "Construction at Bell Bowl Prairie halted until June". Northern Public Radio: WNIJ and WNIU.
  13. Leigh, Kerry (20 September 2021). "NLI and the Bell Bowl Prairie at Rockford Airport". Natural Land Institute. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  14. Guerrero, Isaac (19 December 2007). "Volunteers clear away brush to help local prairie thrive". Rockford Register Star.
  15. "Checklist of Illinois Endangered and Threatened Animals and Plants" (PDF). Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board. 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  16. "Penstemon grandiflorus". www.missouribotanicalgarden.org. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  17. "Nothocalais cuspidata". swbiodiversity.org. SEINet Portal Network. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  18. White, John (30 September 2021). "Expanded statement to the Greater Rockford Airport Authority about Bell Bowl Prairie" (PDF). Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  19. DeVore, Sheryl. "Endangered bumblebee is blocking Rockford airport expansion that will destroy rare prairie — but only for another week". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  20. Wilhelm, Gerould; Rericha, Laura (2017). Flora of the Chicago Region: A Floristic and Ecological Synthesis. Indiana Academy of Sciences.
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