THE BULLDOZING OF BELL BOWL PRAIRIE
The following picture shows Bell Bowl Prairie (located in Rockford, Illinois) being bulldozed on March 9, 2023. Bell Bowl Prairie was an 8000 year-old virgin prairie remnant. An ancient natural treasure that was peacefully co-existing with us in our modern world. Concerned citizens tried to save it but The Greater Rockford Airport Authority Board members serving at the time decided to bulldoze a road through the middle of it. This did not have to happen. There was an alternate plan that would have saved the prairie. But the board decided to proceed with the plan that required bulldozing the prairie. This website will be here to let people know what happened.
That's 8000 years of LIVING natural history being destroyed. Scroll down to see the names of the people who made this happen.
Greater Rockford Airport Authority Board members who approved bulldozing...
Board Member Name | Title |
Mike Dunn | Executive Director |
Paul R. Cicero | Board Chairman |
Tom Myers | Vice Chairman |
Pat Agnew | Board Commissioner |
Leslie West | Board Commissioner |
Mike Schablaske | Board Commissioner |
Thomas Dal Santo | Board Commissioner |
Tonya Lamia | Board Commissioner |
There were several meetings where people stood in front of the board and tried to convince them that they had something really special in Bell Bowl Prarie... and that they could build the road AROUND the prairie... and that endangered species like the Rusty Patched Bumblebee lived there... and that it was 8000 years old and created by the last ice age... but they bulldozed it.
Governor J.B. Pritzker and Mike Dunn. The two men who had the power to save Bell Bowl Prairie. They seem to be in agreement in this photo.
Imagine coming home from a vacation, and when you arrive at your house you find it ransacked or maybe even torn down. That's what the Rusty Patched Bumblebees will experience when they arrive at Bell Bowl Prairie in the spring of 2023. They just wanted to feed and breed and live. That's over for them at Bell Bowl Prarie. Can they find other suitable habitat before they die?