FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 3/8/99

CONTACT:
David Patrick, Director
Zahniser Institute for Environmental Studies
Greenville College
(618) 664-2800, ext. 4486

The Zahniser Institute for Environmental Studies at Greenville (IL) College has been awarded $775,000 to create/restore 130 acres of wetlands along the Missouri River in Chesterfield, Missouri. The project, sponsored by the Monarch-Chesterfield Levee District, will be implemented on two sites along Route 40 west of St. Louis.

Site #1 is a 43-acre site where 26 acres of wetlands will be created, restored or enhanced; Site #2 is a 200-acre site where 104 acres of wetlands are to be developed, primarily through construction and planting of various wetland plant species. Participating agencies include the City of Chesterfield and the US Army Corps of Engineers / St. Louis District.

Wetlands are areas where, under normal circumstances, water stands or saturates the soil for a significant portion of the growing season each year. Wetlands are vitally important in flood control, and as water filtering areas; they also provide homes for many kinds of wildlife such as ducks, geese, deer, raccoons and a variety of reptiles and amphibians.

The wetland creation project includes earthwork (excavation and grading) to create the proper water levels for wetlands, and extensive planting of trees, shrubs and other plants that thrive in wet conditions. Rock trails, boardwalks and observation decks will be built throughout the two sites for environmental education and passive recreation programs to be sponsored by the City of Chesterfield.

Construction and planting will take up to two years to complete, and the Zahniser Institute will monitor the areas for an additional five years to gauge success of the wetland creation efforts.

This project follows on the heels of the extraordinary success the Zahniser Institute has had at its wetland creation / restoration site near Defiance, Missouri. That project, which is now entering the second year of the five-year monitoring period, required the creation / restoration of over 95 acres of wetlands at a 212-acre site along the Missouri River in St. Charles County. Participating agencies in that effort included the project sponsor, St. Louis County / Spirit of St. Louis Airport, and the Missouri Department of Transportation, Missouri Department of Conservation and the US Army Corps of Engineers / St. Louis District.

When asked why the Zahniser Institute is involved in these projects, David Patrick, Institute Director, said, "Our hope is that, by participating in these kinds of projects, we can raise public awareness about how important it is to be good stewards of the environment. We also believe that giving our students hands-on experience with conservation work will give them scientific knowledge about natural resource management and teach them the value of service to the community and to the environment."

The Zahniser Institute for Environmental Studies is a co-curricular program of Greenville College, a four-year, liberal arts college located about 45 miles east of St. Louis in Greenville, Illinois. In pursuit of its environmental education and conservation / restoration efforts, the Institute has restored over 1,000 acres of forests and prairies, and planted over 400,000 trees in Illinois and Missouri. Other conservation projects have been undertaken in Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.

More information about the Zahniser Institute (http://www.greenville.edu/zies) and Greenville College (http://www.greenville.edu) can be obtained by visiting their respective web sites.

-- 30 --