Enbridge Pipelines LLC constructed the 593-mile Flanagan South Pipeline from Illinois to Oklahoma. To reduce environmental impacts, the company followed the footprint of an existing pipeline. Nonetheless, its construction would impact habitat for the Indiana bat and forest-dwelling migratory birds in the states of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. In addition, impacts to the American burying beetle occurred in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Due to the unavoidable impacts to approximately 2,800 acres of habitat for these species, Enbridge entered into a voluntary agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to mitigate for these impacts through the establishment of the Flanagan South Pipeline Mitigation Fund. This mitigation fund is managed by TCF to protect and restore habitat for these high-priority species.

The Conservation Solution

We conducted outreach with conservation partners in the four affected states to identify and protect properties of high conservation value that would benefit the species impacted by the Flanagan South Pipeline. We identified properties that met the mitigation objectives outlined by the USFWS.

Outcome

We have protected, and in some cases restored, a total of 14,751 acres of land using the $21 million Flanagan South Pipeline Mitigation Fund and complementary funding from state and federal land conservation programs, private foundations and other partners.

Sodalis Nature Preserve

One of the most significant conservation outcomes achieved by the Flanagan South Mitigation Fund was protection and restoration efforts at the largest hibernaculum for the Indiana bat in the United States. A former limestone mine located in Hannibal, Missouri, features a 17-mile network of passages that provide important hibernating habitat for an estimated 200,000 federally endangered Indiana bats — representing approximately one-third of the entire Indiana bat population.

We secured the entire property, which includes remnants of the underground mine system as well as 185 surface acres. Restoration efforts included removal of buildings and other facilities associated with the mining operation (e.g., a railroad siding) on 2.5 acres, removal of trash and mine debris, installation of bat-friendly gates at all 34 mine openings, and replanting trees on the surface acreage formerly occupied by the mining operation. We purchased the property in partnership with the City of Hannibal, creating the Sodalis Nature Preserve. The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation holds a conservation easement on the property and a long-term stewardship fund was created to support management of the property and maintenance of the bat-friendly gates.

Today, the Sodalis Nature Preserve is the second largest park in Hannibal. Its creation has not only protected important habitat for the Indiana bat, it has increased opportunities for outdoor recreation in the city. Hannibal has extended an accessible hike-bike trail along Bear Creek to the preserve. This paved pathway now connects to nearly six miles of unpaved trails within the preserve that are open to low-impact, non-motorized use.

The Sodalis Nature Preserve also provides a hands-on outdoor laboratory for Hannibal students of all ages to observe and study bats. The city of Hannibal and the USFWS coordinate monitoring and management of bat populations in the mine to ensure the property will forever remain a nature preserve. Hannibal also anticipates increased tourism and resonating effects on the local economy as a result of the new park and bat habitat.