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Great Rivers Land Trust (GRLT) has implemented the final phase of an innovative stream buffer program. The stream buffer project is part of the ten year Piasa Creek Watershed Project administered by GRLT. The project site is on the Piasa Creek, located above the Route 3 Bridge. Alley Ringhausen, Executive Director of Great Rivers Land Trust attended a luncheon in Springfield recognizing organizations involved in the Illinois Buffer Partnership. The special guest speaker was Mr. Joe Hampton, Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The topic of the reception was “Celebrating the Stewards of our Streams.” The Illinois Council on Best Management Practices and Trees Forever sponsored this event, which was held at the Illinois Executive Mansion in Springfield, Illinois.
The Illinois Buffer Partnership is a new program announced in November 2000 by Trees Forever, which will develop 100 demonstration projects along streams and rivers, primarily on farms, over the next five years. Types of landowner demonstration projects will include streamside buffer planting, plantings around livestock facilities, stream channel enhancements, streambank stabilization, and constructed wetlands. Their goal is to demonstrate how buffers, or living filters consisting of streamside plantings of trees, shrubs and native grasses, intercept runoff water, sediment and residue moving from fields.
Educating the public on the importance of using buffers to improve water quality is just one aspect that the Illinois Buffer Partnership endeavors to achieve. The Illinois Buffer Partnership not only promotes its own conservation efforts, but also those of other agencies and organizations through numerous presentations and interviews across the state. The program has brought increased attention in buffers at each level of government. This is verified by increased funding for buffer programs, increased research on the benefits of buffers for water quality, and numerous publications on buffer plantings.
 The Illinois Buffer Partnership has completed its first year of the program. Great Rivers Land Trust is proud to be one of the select organizations that are participating in the 2001 Illinois Buffer Partnership that, in all, has improved 531 acres of land and has protected over 12 miles of buffered streams. The Illinois Buffer Initiative project on the Piasa Creek has been designed and is ready for implementation in the summer of 2002. The stream buffer will be a supplement to revetment work by the Illinois Department of Transportation. Ringhausen states, “Great Rivers is excited about being a part of the Illinois Buffer Initiative. It is encouraging when so many organizations with similar goals can work together for the health of our streams.” For additional information regarding this project, please contact Alley Ringhausen at Great Rivers Land Trust, 618-467-2265.
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