Delair Division Habitat Restoration and Enhancement Project
Rock Island District
Pool 24, Upper Mississippi River, Miles 278 - 282, Pike County, Illinois, Congressional District: IL - 18
Partners
Description
The Delair Division provides one of the few tracts of natural floodplain vegetation that exists within the 123,000 acres of agricultural lands that make up the Sny Island Levee District. Hundreds of acres of former agricultural lands have already been restored to wetland, forest, and grassland on Delair, but some resource issues remain.
The current forest acreage on the Division is interspersed with small crop fields and is heavily fragmented. Fragmented forests have reduced value for many species of nesting neotropical migrant songbirds.
Wetland management at the Division is still restricted by inadequate water control structures and water delivery systems. Also, timely management of wetlands that do not receive seep water is limited, but would be enhanced by the addition of two or three shallow groundwater wells.
Quick Facts
- Approximate Acres: 1685
- Congressional District: IL - 18
- State(s) Covered: IL
- Land Ownership: USFWS
- Management Agency: USFWS
- Management Authority: Refuge
Features
- Plant bottomland hardwood tree species in several crop fields totaling about 85 acres.
- Maximize wetland potential by improving water control and delivery system (water control structures, drains, etc.).
- Install two shallow groundwater wells to provide a reliable water source for several wetland units.
- Enhance diversity on 35 acres of wet meadows by planting a mixture of forb species.
- Excavate ditches.
Milestones
- The Fact Sheet was completed in September 2010.