Illinois Audubon Society has purchased 44.5 acres in Monroe County to protect the groundwater recharge basin which drains into the Fogelpole Cave Nature Preserve.
Fogelpole Cave, owned by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, is the largest cave in Illinois (and the 51st largest in the nation). Much of the cave is near-pristine subterranean wilderness and constitutes the state’s most biologically diverse cave system.
Lying within the “upstream” flow of both groundwater and surface water drainage into the cave system, protection of the property and surface restoration will benefit the entire cave system.
For more on the land purchase, please see this week’s print edition.