From a news story :
"Kane County [Illinois]
...
a rare wild orchid ... endangered by a subdivision proposed for the border
of Campton and Plato townships
...
plans for some 940 homes.
...
coalition of environmental groups and regulatory agencies that includes
Nelson's Fox Valley Land Foundation has waged a steady campaign aimed at
persuading the developer to alter its plans to better protect nearby
natural areas.
In the face of criticism, Residential Land Fund I LP or RLF has said it
is doing everything it can to preserve those areas.
...
Nelson and others including representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service say that if more is not done, a population of rare white lady's
slipper orchids and the wetland or fen they inhabit near the site of the
developer's proposal could suffer.
The wetland lies partly on land RLF owns but does not plan to build on, and
partly on the adjacent county-owned Meissner-Corron Forest Preserve. The
orchid is listed as a threatened species in Illinois, meaning it is thought
likely to become endangered bringing it to the verge of extinction
"within the foreseeable future."
...
there are people who do not believe or understand why a flower or what the
less environmentally attuned might call a swamp should put the brakes on an
otherwise potentially desirable development.
...
A consensus emerged during a recent meeting of regulatory agencies that the
plans posed a serious threat to the rare orchid and its wetland habitat.
The reason why has to do with the way water reaches the orchid's wetland,
according to Nelson and Jeff Mengler, a biologist with the fish and
wildlife service's Barrington office.
The orchid's wetland home is believed to be fed by rainwater that filters
down through the surrounding land. As it trickles toward the wetland, the
water both sheds and acquires certain attributes on which the orchid and
other wetland plants depend.
...
The wetland also is thought to be fed by rainwater that runs off the
surrounding land, rather than filtering through it. That leads to a second
problem: rain that runs off rooftops and newly paved surfaces can pick up
road salt, lawn chemicals and other contaminants along the way. And because
those surfaces are not absorbent, the water can enter the wetland in high
volumes.
Should the composition of the water entering the wetland change too much,
the orchid and other plant species may struggle to survive, Mengler and
others agree.
.....
the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service ... have requested ... that RLF pay for a study to determine the
boundaries of the so-called recharge area that feeds the flower's home.
The study could cost $12,000 and take as long as six months to complete"
source : http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/city/a19orchid.htm
***********
taxonomy and nomenclature :
http://www.itis.usda.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=43542
photos :
see http://www.iosoc.com/Natives/AKcyp_candidumA.shtml
***********
Regards,
Viateur
_______________________________________________
the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD)
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http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
