MELLOW MARSHES
Jane Adler. Special to the TribuneCHICAGO TRIBUNE
Forty-five miles west of Chicago there's a place where black-eyed Susans and prairie grasses easily take root. Tall reeds move in the air. Painted turtles slide almost unnoticed into big quiet ponds. Skunks wander by.
Along the cloudy edges of the marsh, migrating ducks and geese frequently stop. Egrets and red-tailed hawks rest there, too.
Native plants and animals not only survive here, but thrive. This is a wetland, the environment that once covered 23 percent of the land area of Illinois.
The wild beauty of the place obviously delights. But perhaps even more intriguing is the fact that this 52-acre re-created wetland, called Otter Creek, represents an answer to a puzzling question: How should land be managed if it's worth developing for new homes, but also has real ecological value for flood control, water quality and wildlife preservation?
Today, many say the solution to that chronic impasse lives in a place like Otter Creek -- a wetland mitigation bank.
It's a long string of words for a relatively recent twist on the issue of land conservation. Put simply, mitigation banks combine small isolated wetlands into one big chunk, or bank.
"Wetland banking is viable ecologically," said Steven Apfelbaum, the research ecologist who helped design Otter Creek in St. Charles. "Developers don't feel penalized and it's a remarkable way to promote open space."
Wetland banking may sound compliicated, but it's not. Since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, developers have had to leave wetlands untouched. If a proposed site included a wetland, the developer could build elsewhere, or work around the wetland.
With permission, however, developers could replace, or mitigate, the wetland they wanted to fill. It was simply moved to another spot on the site, or somewhere nearby.
For example, several years back Cook County wanted to build its new jail on land in Chicago that had been vacant for 15 years after the demolition of an old factory. Cattails had grown there--signs of a budding wetland. In order for the jail to be built, the wetland was replaced with another in the northern suburbs.
Wetland banking now offers another alternative. In essence, developers buy acres in a bank like Otter Creek, instead of re-creating a small wetland. That way developers can build where they want, while still replacing lost wetlands. Eventually, the community gets one big working wetland park, too.
"Banking creates larger wetlands that are manageable and have greater habitat value," said John Rogner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Barrington office, one of the government agencies that oversees wetlands.
Developers seem to think the idea offers promise.
"We've created small wetland pockets in the past, but it's hard to see how it does any good," said Michael Pasquinelli, vice president of development company Pasquinelli Inc. in Homewood. "Banking is a good idea and serves the purpose."
For the last 10 years, wetland banking has been mostly talk. But now some banks are being built. Already, banks are operating in the Southeast, especially in Florida, where wetlands abound.
Banks are developed by private companies or public entities like forest preserves and park districts. By federal regulation, however, ownership of a wetland bank must revert to a public body after five years.
Locally, three banks are under way. Besides Otter Creek, there are projects in north suburban Wadsworth and in west suburban Addison.
Otter Creek is being built by John Ryan, president of Land and Water Resources Inc., Rosemont, one of the first for-profit developers of a wetland bank.
"I realized banking was coming," said Ryan, whose career started in the earthmoving business. "This is a way to create working wetlands and still have developers meet the regulations."
As Ryan explains, most developers make a one-time purchase of 1 1/2 acres in the wetland bank for every acre they fill. Sometimes developers are required to buy a higher ratio in the bank--it depends on whether the bank is in the same watershed as the development site.
Mark Matusiak, a local official with the Army Corps of Engineers, which handles the permitting of wetlands, says it's important to keep a replacement wetland in the same watershed as the one being destroyed because that's where it's needed to help soak up storm water.
Otter Creek, which, like other banks, is planted in phases as acres are sold, already has contracts with eight developers.
Ryland Homes purchased three acres at Otter Creek in lieu of a 1 1/2-acre wetland in Schaumburg where the company wanted to build townhouses.
"Our wetland looked like a drainage ditch," said Shari Neeley, land resource manager at Ryland, referring to the low quality of the Schaumburg site's wetland.
"It was a depression and some plants grew there. It became a dumping site and the village didn't want it either.
"We would have had to upgrade it a great deal and rip out the plant life. We thought a larger open space would have more benefit. I wish there were more wetland banks to buy into. I'd rather see 100-acre nature preserves than these little manmade wetlands," she said.
More than picturesque backdrops, wetlands are needed for practical reasons, experts say.
"Wetlands provide important water quality functions," said the Army Corps of Engineers' Matusiak. "They help improve water quality by removing sediment from the water. They also absorb rain water, and that's important for minimizing flood damage. Wetlands have wildlife habitat value too."
But wetlands are disappearing.
According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, since 1818 about 89 percent of the wetlands in Illinois have either been filled for new buildings or drained for farms.
The most recent wetland inventory conducted in 1988 showed that only about 918,000 acres of wetlands remain statewide. Wetland areas are being lost at an annual rate of about one-half a percent of that total.
However, encouraging news about wetland restoration comes from the Des Plaines River Demonstration Project in Wadsworth, also home of a new wetland bank.
"One of the most startling observations for most scientists was how fast the wetlands can restore themselves," said Dr. Donald L. Hey, a hydrologist who directs the project.
"We made sure the old agricultural drainage systems came out and that the water could puddle on the surface and all variety of plants and wildlife have come. It happened within a year or two."
By Hey's count, about 90 different types of wetland plants have emerged at the research site. Also, six bird species that are endangered in Illinois, such as the yellow-headed blackbird and the snowy egret, are nesting there now.
Even though wetlands can apparently revive quickly, there's also evidence that small wetlands are difficult to maintain.
"Wetlands of about one to four acres have failed at a disproportionate rate," said Rogner of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
He figures about 75 percent of the small wetlands that have been created, mostly by developers or because of public works projects like highways, are not functioning.
Developers admit the wetlands they've built, usually with the help of an ecology consultant, are sometimes hard to sustain. Typically, the developer is responsible for the wetland and its upkeep for the first five years, but then ownership reverts to a homeowners association that may not have the resources, or interest, to manage it.
Prairie Crossing, an ecologically attuned housing development in north suburban Grayslake, has gone to the trouble of hiring ecologist Michael Sands to manage the development's open space, which includes a 14-acre wetland.
"The wetland is functioning and healthy, but immature. It is an integral part of the overall water quality program here," Sands said.
While ecologically aware homeowners may have a high tolerance for prairie grass and pond scum, developers say most home buyers prefer manicured lawns. One developer complains that residents at a subdivision regularly dump dirt on the property's wetland so they can put up swingsets and picnic tables.
Robert Neal, who runs the Wadsworth wetland project, says nearby homeowners objected when a wooded area was cleared to make room for the wetland. He did leave a row of trees as a buffer between the houses and the wetland, but hopes one day residents will ask him to remove the trees so they can enjoy the view of the marsh.
Neeley of Ryland Homes says buyers often need to be educated about the natural unkempt look of a wetland. But, she said, "a wetland is usually a hindrance to marketing homes."
Conversely, large wetland banks can be enjoyed by most people as passive recreation parks. Otter Creek includes an observation deck, boardwalks and nature trails so visitors can learn about wetlands.
Wetland banking also cuts regulatory red tape. Developers claim the traditional permitting process can slow building by as much as six months. Neeley says when she bought into the bank it took about 30 days from start to finish. "It was easy," she said.
Developers do complain about the expense of banking, however.
Ryland Homes paid about $150,000 to buy three acres at Otter Creek. Neeley figures it would have cost only about $50,000 for the company to upgrade the on-site wetland. But banking the wetland did provide space for six more townhouses at the project.
"We broke even," she said.
Experts warn that wetland banking is no panacea. If a wetland is large, or of high quality, regulations won't allow it to be filled . Not all developers want to bank their wetlands, either.
For example, Lexington Homes is planting a three-acre wetland at its Huntington Chase project in Elk Grove Village.
Russ Vogel of Lexington Homes says the 48-acre site was big enough so that the natural wetland could be moved and re-created near the entrance of the development.
"We have thought about banks and we've come close to buying into one a few times. But it depends on the circumstances," he said.
Although developers and government agencies agree that banking may be a good way to preserve functioning wetlands, the concept's future is clouded by two bills now winding their way through Congress.
The proposed legislation would change the definition of a wetland. If that happens, about two-thirds of the areas now considered wetlands would no longer be classified as such.
"We have about 100 million acres of wetlands subject to protection under the Clean Water Act and that would be reduced by as much as 75 percent," said Michael L. Davis, chief of the regulatory program of the Army Corps of Engineers in Washington.
"Many of the prairie potholes where waterfowl stop in the Midwest would no longer be considered wetlands. Much of the bottomland hardwood wetlands in the South would be excluded. And much of the Everglades would be excluded. It will impact wildlife, flooding and water quality."
SUBURBAN SITES OFFER CLOSE-UP AT WET ECOSYSTEMS
Wetland banking is helping to create parks where visitors can observe a working wetland ecosystem.
Three area wetland banks are now under way:
- A 37-acre wetland bank in north suburban Wadsworth.
Water Research Inc., a non-profit corporation is building the project which will be planted this fall and next spring.
The Wadsworth bank is 30 percent sold and part of the Des Plaines River Demonstration Project, which conducts research on wetlands and flooding.
The Lake County Forest Preserve District owns the property.
- Cricket Creek Wetland Bank on Salt Creek in Addison.
It will be built next spring by the DuPage County Forest Preserce District.
There are alson plans for banks in Wheaton and Glen Ellyn, according to Bruce Maki, who heads the DuPage County wetlands project.
- Otter Creek in St. Charles.
This is one of the nation's first for-profit wetland bank developments, but the land is owned by the St. Charles Park District.
It was built last year by Land and Water Resources, Inc., Rosemont.