IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 606 
Commending Kankakee County, the Kankakee River Basin Partnership, the 
Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), The Nature Conser-
vancy (TNC), the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, and 
local citizens for their work in preserving the Kankakee Sands Ecosystem 
in Kankakee County, Illinois. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 22, 2004 
Mr. WELLER submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Resources 
RESOLUTION 
Commending Kankakee County, the Kankakee River Basin 
Partnership, the Illinois Department of Natural Re-
sources (IDNR), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the 
Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, and local 
citizens for their work in preserving the Kankakee Sands 
Ecosystem in Kankakee County, Illinois. 
Whereas the Momence Wetlands and Kankakee Sands Savan-
nahs are sites of major importance within the Kankakee 
Sands Ecosystem that contain high-quality natural areas 
and concentrations of habitats used by State-listed en-
dangered species;
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Whereas the Kankakee River Basin in Kankakee County has 
experienced large-scale losses of wetlands, and prairie 
and oak savannah habitats; 
Whereas by the early 1900s, the wet meadows prairies and 
oak savannah uplands that once provided habitat for 
hundreds of thousands of migratory birds and native 
wildlife were becoming developed; 
Whereas only approximately 6,000 acres or 0.05 percent of 
the original total acres of wetlands persist in a relatively 
undisturbed condition in Illinois; 
Whereas at the time of European settlement, the Midwest 
had an estimated 30 million acres of oak savannahs; how-
ever, only 0.02 percent or 6,518 acres of the original 
high-quality oak savannahs remain; 
Whereas although over 99 percent of the original savannahs 
have been lost, the Kankakee River Basin in Kankakee 
County still contains among the greatest concentrations 
of oak savannahs in the Nation; 
Whereas the Kankakee River, which flows through the 
Momence Wetlands, is classified as a ‘‘biologically signifi-
cant stream’’ because of its high water quality and di-
verse aquatic fauna; 
Whereas the Kankakee River Basin has been identified na-
tionally as a ‘‘critical watershed’’ for conserving fish and 
muscle species; 
Whereas 2,440 acres of the Momence Wetlands was identified 
by the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory (INAI); 
Whereas 500 acres of high-quality sand savannahs were iden-
tified by the INAI at the Pembroke Savannahs;
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Whereas the Kankakee Sands Ecosystem in Kankakee Coun-
ty provides critical nesting and breeding habitat for a 
number of area-sensitive forest and grassland bird species 
such as the pileated woodpecker, summer tanager, scarlet 
tanager, ovenbird, bobolink, grasshopper sparrow, savan-
nah sparrow, brown creeper, northern harrier, Henslow’s 
sparrow, and the State-listed veery; 
Whereas the Kankakee Sands habitats in Kankakee County 
support populations of several unusual plant and animal 
species including swamp cottonwood, pumpkin ash, climb-
ing hempweed, fame flower, scarlet oak, wild lupine, 
plains pocket gopher, southern flying squirrel, and the 
rare red squirrel; 
Whereas the Kankakee Sands Ecosystem in Kankakee Coun-
ty supports populations of at least 8 different State-listed 
species and there is a very high likelihood that other 
State-listed species occur within the Pembroke Savan-
nahs; and 
Whereas since the late 1970s there has been much State and 
local interest in protecting the high-quality natural re-
sources of the Kankakee Sands Ecosystem and in par-
ticular the Kankakee River, Momence Wetlands, and 
Pembroke Savannahs: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) commends the efforts of Kankakee County, 
the Kankakee River Basin Partnership, the Illinois 
Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), The Na-
ture Conservancy (TNC), the Illinois Clean Energy 
Community Foundation, and local citizens for their
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work in preserving the Kankakee Sands Ecosystem 
in Kankakee County, Illinois; 
(2) expresses support for the preservation of 
these valuable natural resources within Kankakee 
County, Illinois; and 
(3) urges the continued effort for these groups 
to work together with local, State, and Federal orga-
nizations and agencies to offer further assistance in 
preserving Kankakee County’s natural landscape, 
flora, and fauna. 
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