Letter: Rare ecosystem at risk for road to parking lot

Imagine: In a last minute enlightened shift, the Rockford Airport Board will permanently protect the 10,000 year-old, virgin, Bell Bowl Prairie. The board will merge state-of-the-art models of airport expansion that unify economic growth with conservation for the benefit of the environment, other species and posterity. The alternative plan includes an interpretive center to learn about the uniqueness of Bell Bowl Prairie, thus, bringing more economic potential to the region. The plan for the airport expansion will set a global precedent of economic progress in step with responsible environmental stewardship...

If only we had such enlightened leaders

Within weeks, 10,000-year-old, rare, virgin, Bell Bowl Prairie will be bulldozed as part of the Rockford Airport Expansion - for a road to a parking lot.

The current expansion plan will push the federally endangered rusted patch bumble bee and eight species of endangered plants found in Bell Bowl closer to extinction - for a road to a parking lot.

The Bell Bowl ecosystem is the entity that is endangered and will never exist again if destroyed - for a road to a parking lot.

When contemporary development trends boast sound environmental stewardship, the Rockford Airport Board's refusal to protect a rare endangered ecosystem, frankly, is embarrassing - for a road to a parking lot?

Several alternative plans clearly indicate that Bell Bowl Prairie does not have to be destroyed and the airport expansion can happen with respect for nature and diversity of life. The board refuses to consider these plans - for a road to a parking lot.

The Rockford Airport Authority needs to put their egos aside. They can choose to preserve the heritage of the "prairie" state, or they will contribute to an increasingly macabre delusion that we have prairie in our "prairie" state - for a road to a parking lot.

Anthony Ippolito

Arlington Heights