Update on Save Bell Bowl Prairie

On Friday, the Greater Rockford Airport Authority reached an agreement through the US District Court to temporarily halt construction and development, including grading and earthmoving, which would damage or destroy any part of Bell Bowl Prairie until March 1, 2022. This was their response to NLI’s Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction filed on Thursday.

This does not ensure the future of Bell Bowl Prairie, but it certainly gives us more time than November 1, 2021 to change the development plans for the airport expansion. The only change mentioned in the Airport Authority’s agreement is to remove the water retention basin from the design. The Prairie could still be destroyed if the proposed road is not removed.

Public meetings continue; the next one is scheduled for tonight, November 2, at 6:00 pm at the Winnebago County Forest Preserve Administration Building located north of Harlem Road just west of the bridge and just east of the stoplight on Illinois route 2. Or you can attend by Zoom at:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88507064345

Submitted by Teresa Wilmot