NLI: Fight to preserve Bell Bowl Prairie not over

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - It’s been more than a year since the Natural Land Institute first filed a lawsuit to stop the Greater Rockford Airport Authority from bulldozing part of Bell Bowl Prairie to build a service road.

Work was halted for awhile while the airport worked with state and federal wildlife officials about how to safely proceed without endangering the rusty patch bumblebees that live on the prairie.

But with those legal hopes now dashed, work resumed Thursday morning.

As heavy equipment crews continued to clear 10 of the prairie’s 25 acres, the NLI declared that the fight to save what’s left isn’t over.

“You can remediate what’s been destroyed already,” said Natural Land Institute Director of Stewardship Zach Grycen. “There might be a semblance of something left in that soil where you could build upon that. The rest of it that’s been unaffected so far by construction, we could certainly aim to protect permanently.”

Protecting the unaffected remnant will involve working withthe Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, something Grycen said the NLI may pursue.

“We’re deeply saddened by the outcome,” he said. “So many people came out and cared and sunk time into this thing, trying to save Bell Bowl Prairie.

A motion to stop work from commencing was filed by the NLI Monday, the day the Federal Aviation Authority gave the airport the go-ahead to fire the bulldozers back up.

The motion was denied. Natural Land Institute officials have since asked judges in the Seven the Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the ruling. The case is pending. Meanwhile, work may legally proceed.

The NLI was a longtime steward of Bell Bowl, an ancient prairie that’s home to endangered plants, insects and animals. The airport terminated that agreement in 2021.

The service road is apart of a $50 million cargo expansion project. Bell Bowl Prairie was once part of Camp Grant.