CHICAGO — The fight to preserve Bell Bowl Prairie in Rockford, Illinois, where federally endangered rusty patched bumblebees have been found, ramped up this week, with environmentalists saying they intend to return to federal court.
The Natural Land Institute, a nonprofit that opposes the Chicago Rockford International Airport’s plan to build a road through the heart of Bell Bowl, said their lawyers had sent a letter to local, state and federal agencies informing them of plans to file a lawsuit alleging violations of the Endangered Species Act.
The letter cites the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s own finding that the rusty patched bumblebee is declining due, in part, to the loss of most prairies and grasslands in the Upper Midwest and Northeast.
