Public-private partnership honored for Bluff Spring Fen conservation work
Four people have been given the Grassroots Conservation Leadership Award from the Audubon - Chicago Region honoring a public-private conservation and development initiative to restore the Bluff Spring Fen.
Mike Vondra, owner and president of Bluff City Materials Inc. in Bartlett, Steven Byers and John Nelson of the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, and David Clement of Vulcan Materials Co. which has a plant in Bartlett were recognized for a project which spanned 11 years.
A fen is a rare wetland that has a year-round temperature of approximately 50 degrees; this alkaline water flow supports an ecosystem of specialized plants and animals that have adapted to these conditions.
"It is estimated that today less than 1 percent of the original fens still exist in Illinois," said Matt Vondra, Mike's son and the leader of Bluff City's involvement. "We truly value this public-private partnership and working with the agencies - they all have done great work on this project."
Others who were involved include Mackie Consultants in Rosemont, The Forest Preserve of Cook County, Bartlett, Elgin, Friends of the Fen, Illinois State Geological Survey and Illinois State Water Survey.
The effort began when Bluff City purchased the mining operation, which dates back 100 years, from Chicago Gravel. Bluff City began a dialogue with the environmental group Friends of the Fen. Bluff City helped fund a long-running water study. The forest preserve district contributed $300,000.
"Everyone stepped up, made the project happen and made it a better project," said David Kircher, chief landscape architect for the forest preserves.
Vulcan and Bluff City filled an old gravel pit pond that was leaking warm water into the fen. They installed more than 3,000 feet of pipe to reroute stormwater flowing out of Gifford Lake and running off industrial areas located south of the fen.
"Mining companies typically are taking material out of the ground," Nelson said. "Here Bluff City and Vulcan Materials Co. were filling in algae-filled gravel pits from earlier mining and created a piping system to reroute stormwater runoff around the fen to protect the groundwater."
"This project is continued proof that industry and nature can thrive together when stakeholders work together for a common cause," said Clement, Vulcan Materials Company senior vice president, central region.
"The land needed to be recontoured to enable the forest preserves and the Friends of the Fen to restore land that had been badly degraded and subsequently invaded by woody, invasive trees," Nelson said. "Matt (Vondra) has invested himself entirely in bringing together industry, government and environmentalists."
Byers first became involved in the restoration effort in 1980 as a member of Friends of the Fen, which removed 26 pickup truckloads of roofing shingles from the site, then used as a dumping ground.
"There are only 160 acres of high quality fens in Illinois and the surviving fens are mainly along the Fox River Valley watershed in Cook and in McHenry County," he said. "The entire nature preserve is about 115 acres and the fen wetlands are part of that site. There is an opportunity to wander through a variety of landscapes - prairies, savannas and wetlands."
Open daily, Bluff Spring Fen is accessed through the Bluff City Cemetery located at 945 Bluff City Road in Elgin. The fen is open from 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. through October and until 4 p.m. from November through March.