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Wildlife biologist says she was threatened with arrest at Milam Bottoms; accuses developer and critic of false claims
Summary
Wildlife biologist Kelly McCray told the Rock Island council she has conducted surveys at Milam Bottoms since March and accused critics of making false statements about her methods and intentions; she said Illinois DNR contacted her saying law enforcement had been called and that she faced potential arrest for trespassing.
Kelly McCray, who identified herself as a wildlife biologist from Hampton, Illinois, used the public-comment period on June 9 to respond to accusations about her field work at Milam Bottoms and to defend the scientific nature of her surveys.
McCray said she has conducted "opportunistic random area search surveys for all terrestrial vertebrate species" in the area since March 12 and has been careful not to disturb active trapping being performed by a Terracon biologist. She said the Terracon biologist asked her not to enter two wetlands where Terracon was trapping turtles and that she agreed to wait until the consultant completed field work for the day.
McCray said she later received a call from Scott Ballard of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources informing her that law enforcement had been contacted and she faced arrest for trespassing; she said she provided Ballard her location and that the Terracon biologist had asked her not to search for nesting Blanding's turtles within Terracon's trapping areas.
McCray disputed assertions by other community members — she named Matt Stern and Jeff Eubanks — that she had been walking through wetlands, killing turtles, or sabotaging Terracon’s project. "Mr. Stern claims I'm walking through wetlands, stepping on turtles and killing them. The fact is this is a very uneducated statement," McCray said. She also disputed a Facebook exchange she described in which Stern reportedly wrote that "$150,000 can pay for any results that you want," and she said that claim raised questions about whether results were being paid for by developers.
McCray said she has done turtle research elsewhere in her career and that she purposely avoided the specific wetlands where Terracon was trapping. She said she had only encountered the Terracon biologist twice at vehicle areas and had not interfered with him in the field.
Her remarks did not prompt a formal council action at the meeting. Councilors did not take a vote on allegations made during public comment; McCray’s statements were delivered during the public-comment portion of the agenda.
