Developers keep chipping away at Illinois River watershed prairies in Ward 4: Second part of video shares photos and comments on wet-prairie destruction north of Fayetteville's Holiday Inn Express PLUS Environmental Action Committee video of Dec. 8, 2011, meeting covers diverse subject list, including the prairie-destruction issue near the end

Please click on individual images beneath the video file to enlarge view of wet-prairie and tree-protection area slated to become construction site.

More than 100 photos of mounded wet prairie parcel proposed as site for convention center on north side of Holiday Inn Express available on Flickr near bottom of urban infill set. A sample of the photos appears below the meeting video. Discussion of the site occurs near the end of the meeting. A slide bar at the bottom of the video allows a person skip over discussion of other subjects.

Please click on individual images to ENLARGE.

View east shows tiny wooded-wetland tree-protection area on low corner of several acres of  remnant of mounded wet prairie.

Mowing vegetation out of swale that carries water north to a creek unnecessary and harmful.

Healthy habitat important especially where it also protects watershed

Existing tree-protection area is best place for natural swale and sheet-flow surface water to soak in.

Ditch and pipe from existing Holiday Inn Express parking lot exemplies outmoded  high-impact water management

Existing stormwater pipe causes erosion of big ditch that sends dangerous flow to swale along road toward creek, increasing erosion and flooding of downtream property.

Natural swale through wet prairie takes water to low, wooded wetland at NW corner of property