HANNA CITY, Ill. – Ameren Illinois doesn’t just mow the grass and plant life around high-voltage towers in order to try and keep utility workers safe in the event of an outage; the utility says it also tries to keep the ecosystem in mind, in what can be a delicate balance. And one of the places that happens is at Wildlife Prairie Park.
While Ameren mows around high voltage towers on park property, they also have planted or re-planted vegetation in other areas near the tower, in one case, helping improve the potential for the growth of the endangered monarch butterfly and other pollinators — something done throughout their surface area.
“Whether it’s two acres or 100, the native stuff we’re planting is far more functional and valuable for our pollinators, than if we don’t plant it at all,” said Jennifer Porcelli, an environmental scientist with Ameren. “Ameren Illinois, where feasible, is planting native pollinator-friendly vegetation in the right-of-ways, and around our substations.”
Most of the time, Porcelli says they’re replacing vegetation that’s invasive with plant life that is more suited for growth.
“We installed this pollinator-friendly project (at Wildlife Prairie Park) for multiple reasons,” said Porcelli. “One, this area was
A caterpillar can be scene in the vegetation around an Ameren Illinois “pollinator project” at Wildlife Prairie Park. (Will Stevenson/1470 & 100.3 WMBD)
full of invasive incompatible woody vegetation — Midwest Honeysuckle, Autumn Olive, and other plants that would threaten the safety and reliability of growing right under the power lines. So, we changed out that plant community for a different one — one that is native plants and grasses that cater toward pollinators.”
Pollinators, Porcelli says, like the monarch butterfly — at or close to endangered on the lists of nature organizations.
In a number of cases, Ameren says it works with Pheasants and Quail Forever to plant vegetation also friendly to those birds.
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