Senator Tammy Duckworth continues to work toward inducting the Prairie du Rocher French Colonial Historic District of Randolph County into the National Park System.
The senator recently spoke with U.S. Department of Interior Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, Shannon Estenoz, to discuss her new role and priorities for Illinois. She secured her commitment to work together on three specific priorities, one of which was the five priority sites for national monument designation by President Biden under the Antiquities Act.
“This is great for us,” said Ed Weilbacher, general manager of the Kaskaskia Regional Port District and a member of the committee working for national park status. “We have known from the beginning of this process that there are two ways the Prairie du Rocher French Colonial Historic District could be moved into the National Park System. One was through legislation, the other was via the Antiquities Act of 1906.”
For more on Rocher’s National Park status, please see this week’s print edition.