Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
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The La Grange Reach Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) Field Station is operated by the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS), a division of the newly organized Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The station is located in a leased facility on the bank of the Illinois River at Havana, Illinois. Major funding for the station is provided through the LTRMP for the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS), a cooperative effort of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the natural resource agencies of five UMRS States (Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin). A primary responsibility of the field station's LTRMP staff (eight full-time biologists and technicians) is monitoring water quality, vegetation, macroinvertebrates, and fish along an 80-mile reach of the Illinois River. In addition, field station staff have been involved in a variety of other projects, including research on native mussels along the entire Illinois River and Reach 15 of the Mississippi River; studies of zebra mussels, their larvae, and other zooplankton; evaluations of the impacts of dredge spoil on fish and invertebrate communities; investigations of larval fish dynamics; and biological monitoring at Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Projects. Most research beyond the LTRMP monitoring is funded through grants or contracts. Total staff at the station varies from 8 to 25, depending on the season and the number and scope of additional research projects. Field station staff collaborate with INHS scientists from the Survey's main office on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the nearby Forbes Biological Station at Havana, and four other INHS field stations. Other collaborative efforts include scientists from the LTRMP's Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center at La Crosse, WI, the other five LTRMP field stations, and the University of Illinois. Currently the La Grange Reach Field Station facility is under renovation. Upon completion it will consist of 2460 square feet of office space, a 2000 square foot wet lab, a shop (2880 square feet), and approximately 3000 square feet of additional storage space for field equipment. The station has a total of 15 boats with associated motors, trailers, and support equipment. Among these are three electrofishing rigs, two pontoon houseboats (35-ft and 43-ft long), a hovercraft, and a 24-ft pontoon boat/diving platform. Three field vehicles are owned by the station and five vehicles are on loan from Federal agencies or leased from the state. Other equipment at the field station includes the following: Field equipment
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Greg Sass Field Station Team
Leader
Telephone: 309-543-6000
Fax: 309-543-2105