Chicago Wildlife News: Wildlife advocates fear Southeast Side shooting range will disrupt habitats

Wildlife advocates fear Southeast Side shooting range will disrupt habitats

(POSTED: 11/29/10) A number of environmental groups are calling for a thorough wildlife study of the marshy land that has been slotted for construction of a police firing range on Chicago's Southeast Side.

The proposed 33-acre site, located on top of eight feet of landfill at 2025 E. 134th St., is just west of the Calumet River and near "extensive" wetlands that are home to an abundance of wildlife, including blue herons and egrets. Many environmentalists are concerned that the $2.5 million, 40-person shooting range will disrupt the natural habitat.

"There is real nature there and real nesting birds that are absolutely wonderful, and it's because of the neglect and isolation that we have," said Carolyn Marsh, Chicago Audubon Society board member. "It's not just a question of the firing range; they are going to have storage and trailers and cars and traffic -- a lot of activity. It's going to ruin the whole area."

Despite the opposition, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, which owns the property, recently voted to lease the space to the Chicago Police Department. The police, though, have said that the training center does not have to come at the cost of the environment.

"It has been our position from the beginning in querying about this project that we will act as stewards of the environment," said Lt. Raymond Hamilton, project manager for the training center. "We said that and we mean it."

Hamilton said they have been working closely with the Chicago Department of Environment to create a "green" design that is "open and inviting to the community."

But what's been done so far is not good enough, according to groups such as the Southeast Environmental Task Force and the Calumet Ecological Park Association.

The wildlife study that has already been conducted "seems very superficial," added Eleanor Roemer, Friends of the Park public trust and policy director.

"We just want careful decisions that look at the possibility of adverse impact before the decision is made," she said. (Since the MWRD gave the OK, the next step for the Chicago Police Department is to negotiate a lease for the property.)

Some people have also raised questions about how the training facility will affect plans to build an elaborate nature center that was meant to go in the same area. The Ford Calumet Environmental Center, which has already won awards for its design, "will turn the Calumet area into a major showpiece" to which "visitors will come from all over the world," Mayor Daley said on the City of Chicago's website.

However, construction has yet to begin on this project, even though the city previously told the community that the center was going to be built 10 years ago, Marsh said.

"It hasn't been fulfilled as promised, and now they throw in a firing range," she said. "We have all brought up the Ford Center, and we get no reply. We're just looking for some answers."

The city's Department of Environment did not respond to phone calls or emails for this story.

By Katie Drews, for ChicagoWildlifeNews.com
Contact: [email protected]

Photo credit: White egret at pond near proposed shooting range. From Southeast Environmental Task Force blog.

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