DuPage forest district, U of I research smallmouth bass

The University of Illinois will pay $18,000 to continue to use the Urban Research Center at Blackwell Forest Preserve near Warrenville to study smallmouth bass in the West Branch of the DuPage River.

The university's Natural History Survey uses the center as a remote field station and will share its research with the forest district. Its researchers are already electronically tracking tagged smallmouth bass they released into the river.

"This is pretty exciting," Forest Preserve District of DuPage County President Joe Cantore said. "We've always had a great relationship with U of I, and we're looking forward to many more years of our partnership in the future."

Scott Meister, assistant manager of natural resources at the forest district, said the university approached the district about the project because of recently completed restoration work along more than eight miles of the West Branch, which included the removal of two low-head dams.

"The research will give us better insight into the ecology of smallmouth bass that live in this urban river - how and where they travel, where they live, and how they survive. It's a pretty unique situation," Meister said. "Agreements like this also help us offset the cost of operating the Urban Stream Research Center."

Ecologists at the Urban Stream Research Center - the only one of its kind in Illinois - monitor county streams and conduct water-quality and aquatic-species research. The district also partners with local conservation groups, universities and other institutions on research in similar areas.

If new water-quality regulations are approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, it's likely the district will see increased requests for use of the center, according to Erik Neidy, district manager of natural resources.