The Nature Conservancy’s Emiquon Restoration Project

As we have learned, Thompson Lake was the largest and most recognized bottomland lake in the Illinois River valley. In the early 1920s it was drained and agricultural crops were planted. Valuable habitat was lost for fish, mussels and other macroinvertebrates, and waterfowl. This “lake” remained in agricultural production throughout most of the twentieth century.

In 1993, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) initiated the Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge project (Figure 80), which eventually includes the area previously referred to as Thompson Lake. Land acquisition begins along the mouth of the Spoon River, but it is not until May 2000, however, that the 6,661 acre historic Thompson and Flag lakes is purchased by The Nature Conservancy (TNC 2004). This brings the total acreage owned by TNC to 7,527 acres and an additional 1,300 acres by USFWS.

Figure 80: Emiquon Project (Glosser)

The Emiquon project provides an opportunity for the restoration of approximately 1,000 acres of uplands and 6,000 acres of wetlands and floodplain habitat. The primary objective for the restoration and management of these acres is to restore the natural ecological processes and habitats that promote and sustain the native species and aquatic terrestrial communities once found in the Illinois River valley.

The Emiquon project demonstrates the Illinois River’s tremendous capacity for regeneration despite the significant alterations and impacts that have occurred over almost 100 years. This project will become showcase for landscape restoration and the management of floodplain habitat that can be used elsewhere in the Illinois River valley and the world.

It is with projects such as these that there is hope for the restoration of the Illinois River. The biological richness of the pre-European settlement may not be possible, but water quality can be improved and wildlife habitat restored.