Not even the dune plants, though, can tolerate getting torn up by machinery. In the past the Park District has plowed under some of the sea rockets, even though they're on the state's threatened species list. Burton said they were uprooted by a machine that mixes sand to sift out glass and other debris. The state says that's legal. When it comes to threatened and endangered species, plants aren't like animals, according to the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board.
Animals belong to the state and have the state's protection.
The Park District plans to try to do just that. No plan in the world could have asked the lake to recede. When the lake comes back, things could change again. That's too much water for them. This area was under the lake at one time.