Rare plant slowing trail development ‘disappears’

Published 10:58 pm Wednesday, May 19, 2010

State-endangered prairie trillium plants, pictured here, have been the source of many headaches for the city of Niles in delaying its recreational trail extension project. After the city discovered more than 100 of them last month, they have recently disappeared, delaying their transport away from the trail.

State-endangered prairie trillium plants, pictured here, have been the source of many headaches for the city of Niles in delaying its recreational trail extension project. After the city discovered more than 100 of them last month, they have recently disappeared, delaying their transport away from the trail.

By AARON MUELLER
Niles Daily Star

For anyone who has followed the progress of the Niles recreation trail extension project, they know it has been a rollercoaster ride, slowed by repeated setbacks.

After yet another setback on Tuesday, Niles Department of Public Works Director Neil Coulston had different words to describe it.

“It has been the project from Hell,” Coulston said.

Just a week after getting word from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources that the city could transplant the state-endangered prairie trillium plants from the location of the trail extension, the plant has mysteriously disappeared.

Coulston said volunteers at the site found only three plants Tuesday, after last month Wendy Jones, head naturalist at Fernwood Botanical Garden, found more than 130 of them.

“Based on information from the DNR, spring came about three weeks early,” Coulston said. “So the trillium came and went before we had a chance to dig them up.”

That means the city will have to postpone the extension of the trail where the trillium is located until next spring, when the trillium re-grows and can be transplanted.

Coulston said he will meet with contractor Jaran Construction on Friday to discuss how much more construction can be done this summer.

“We should be able to go to the foot of Bond Street at least,” he said. “All the trilliums are south of that point.”

That would still leave about 3,700 feet of trail to be constructed next spring.

The project is already underway at the northern end of the trail where no trillium was discovered.

Coulston said the project was first scheduled to begin in 2009 but was slowed by complications in obtaining an easement from Indiana Michigan Power Co. that has a substation in the area.

“It’s been a huge disappointment,” Coulston said. “We’ve been working on it a long time. I thought we had gotten through the worst of it, but obviously we haven’t.”