The Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve will be closed for about four months, starting within the next two weeks, so work can begin at the site to help protect the endangered Hine's emerald dragonfly.

ComEd workers are expected to begin removing about five miles of utility poles from the preserve as part of the project.

A helicopter will be used to remove the poles “to ensure endangered species are not disrupted,” according to a ComEd spokesman.

“While we know this may be an interesting site to see … motorists should not stop and try to view the operation,” said ComEd spokesman David O'Dowd in an email.

The work alongside Route 53 between 135th Street and Caton Farm Road is expected to last about four months and the 320-acre preserve will be closed to the public for the duration.

The utility poles had been installed in the area more than 70 years ago, which is before it was designated a prairie preserve, according to Sara Race, senior environmental compliance specialist for ComEd.

She said a helicopter is being used in the removal project to limit trampling in the preserve and that the cost of the operation to remove nearly 150 poles will be in the millions.

The poles themselves are not causing a disturbance to the dragonfly but rather it's the maintenance of them, said Kristopher Lah, an endangered species coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

He said workers would routinely have to spray herbicides to clear areas around the poles and it was difficult for workers to maneuver through the thick brush of the preserve.

ComEd has already built a replacement power line system on the right-of-way along Route 53 west of the preserve, which has much easier access for maintenance workers.

“It certainly makes it easier for ComEd with the realignment not being in a protected area,” Lah said.

Will County Forest Preserve District officials applaud the actions by ComEd to help protect the endangered dragonfly.

“Species like the Hine's emerald dragonfly offer us insight into changes in our ecosystem,” said Ralph Schultz, chief operating officer for the forest preserve district.

“Declining species population are an indication of habitat degradation that might have wide-ranging effects. As those most rare species disappear, other species may also begin being impacted.”

There are only between 80 and 300 adult Hine's emerald dragonflies left in Illinois, Lah said, and its main habitat is along several areas on the west bank of the Des Plaines River around Lockport and Lemont.

The preserve also is home to several endangered native plants, such as the leafy prairie clover and the lakeside daisy, as well as several rare turtles.

“(Lockport Prairie) is especially significant in the county and in our region because it contains wet and wet-mesic dolomite prairie,” Schultz said. “Less than 45 acres of this rare dolomite prairie have been identified across the globe and 19 of those acres are located at Lockport Prairie.”

Removal of the utility poles also paves the way for an estimated $7.5 million restoration project by the Army Corps of Engineers.

That project includes removing invasive plant species originating from Europe and Asia.

Those invasive plants have short root systems which are not good for maintaining wetlands.

Native seeds will be planted in their wake.

That project will cover 925 acres, including Lockport Prairie, and is scheduled to begin next year.

Frank Vaisvilas is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.