EAST MOLINE, Ill. — One-million dollars of land in East Moline could help lead a restoration project for native wildlife.
Rock Island County received a $1.03 million grant to cover 172 acres of land in East Moline along I-80 and Illinois 92. It would mark the county Forest Preserve District's seventh park and advance preservation efforts in the area.
The ecosystem has confirmed sightings of the endangered Rusty Patched Bumblebee and American Bumblebee, whose population has declined by 90% and vanished from eight states, according to the District's Illiniwek Forest Preserve.
In addition to those two species of bees, the endangered Indiana Bat and Northern Long-Eared Bat have been detected in the area by U.S. Fish and Wildlife sonar readings.
Director of Rock Island County Forest Preserve District Jeff Carver says the sightings of those species is more of a reason to advance the restoration efforts.
"It's a very attractive property for us to do that for in terms of conservation and knowing that we do have those species in the vicinity," Carver said. "Making an impact right here in Rock Island County, with several endangered species is pretty exciting for us."
Carver says he hopes this project emphasizes the importance of wildlife preservation and says members of the Quad Cities community will have the opportunity to take-in the area's nature once complete.
"The district's following its mission. We're conserving, preserving, and educating the community about the natural world," Carver said. "Once the property is ready, we would encourage people to come to the property to explore nature to connect with nature, just like we do at our other parks."
The entire project could take around a year or so, but the public will have access to explore as soon as it opens.
"Prairies take a while to get established, it takes them a good three to five years to kind of get to full maturity, roots need to get established. You know, I'd like to say that all of our plantings and efforts have always been successful," Carver said. "But sometimes you got to throw a little bit more seed on there, or you got to do this or you got to do that. So we'll see. But we'd like to have it open and available to the public for them to utilize as soon as we can."
The District is aiming for a Fall 2022 completion.
