Source of Illustration: Arkansas Watershed Advisory Group
"Wetland restoration is an essential tool in the campaign to protect, improve, and increase wetlands. Wetlands that have been filled and drained retain their characteristic soil and hydrology, allowing their natural functions to be reclaimed. Restoration is a complex process that requires planning, implementation, monitoring, and management. It involves renewing natural and historical wetlands that have been lost or degraded and reclaiming their functions and values as vital ecosystems. Restoring our lost and degraded wetlands to their natural state is essential to ensure the health of America’s watershed."
--U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
River Corridor and Wetland Restoration.
"Wetlands provide food, protection from predators, and
other vital habitat factors for many of the nation's fish and wildlife
species, including endangered and threatened species. In addition, wetland
ecotypes have economic value associated with recreational, commercial, and
subsistence use of fish and wildlife resources and they remove pollutants
from overland flows before they reach our lakes, rivers and bays.
Wetlands intercept storm runoff and release floodwaters gradually to
downstream systems. When wetlands are converted to systems without water
retention capacity, downstream flooding problems increase.
Over the years, hundreds of thousands of miles of river corridors and
millions of acres of wetlands have been damaged throughout the nation.
Restoration seeks to return some of these ecosystems to their approximate
pre-disturbance conditions. From 1982 to 1992, a total of 768,700 acres of
wetlands were gained as a result of restoration activities around the nation
(USDA, 1997). Likewise, numerous miles of rivers and streams were restored
in our nation's watersheds over the same time period. When properly planned,
executed and managed, restoration works; its success can be attributed to
the hard work and dedication of practitioners, scientists, and others who
seek to heal damaged natural systems and improve our communities."
--U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
River Corridor and Wetland Restoration.
"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."
--Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority."
--E.B. White, Essays of E.B. White
Fen dependent butterflies and moths
and their host plants:
Dion Skipper Butterfly: Host plants include Woolgrass, Hairy Sedge, and Shoreline Sedge.
Bronze Copper Butterfly: Host plants include Water Dock and Curled Dock
Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly: Host plants include Turtlehead and Hairy Beardtongue.
Papaipema nelita moth: Host plants include Wild Golden Glow.
Papaipema limpeda moth: Host plants include Ironweeds.
Tall Ironweed in Bloom
Red Turtlehead
Image by Tom Barnes, University of Kentucky.
Used with permission.
Baltimore Checkerspot
Image by Alison Hunter
See also a complete list of endangered plants in Illinois, compiled by the Illinois Natural History Survey team at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
