CANOES ON THE CACHE: FREE TOURS OFFERED

ULLIN, Ill. -- The bed of the Cache River is ancient, until about 8050 B.C. It was the path the Ohio River took on its way to the Mississippi River. That is one reason why the Cache River Wetlands is so hospitable to wild things.

"Because it has held water all these years it is very good habitat," says Marguerite Hills, manager of the Cypress creek National Wildlife Refuge, which is part of the wetlands.

The Cache River Wetlands is the northernmost swamp in North America, a mossy and mysterious home to more than 250 species of birds and cypress trees as old as 1,000 years.

The bayou contains a unique blend of southern, eastern Ozarks and eastern lowland species, Hills says. Much of it is accessible only by serpentine canoe trails.

People are coming from as far away as Chicago and St. Louis to canoe the Cache River Wetlands Saturday. Liz Jones, the refuge's assistant manager, will lead free tours along with assistants from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The one-hour canoe tours will be conducted from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Up to 10 canoes will be launched each hour. To make a reservation or for more information, phone the Cypress Creek Refuge at (618) 634-2231.

The Cache River State Natural Area also contains more than 18 miles of foot trails. One of the best of these is the trail to Heron Pond, Hills says.

Among the birds making their home in the wetlands are prothonotary warblers. Those who visit will see the birds entering and exiting small brown cartons attached to trees in the swamp. They are part of a study being conducted by the Illinois Natural History Survey to see how flooding, predation and parasitism affects the birds in the cache.

Prothonotary warblers are considered a good indictor species for the health of the flood plain forest, Hills says.

The Cache River Wetlands survived the urge to drain that emptied the swamps in Southeast Missouri. It remains "because the areas are so difficult to drain -- even though farmers continue to ditch and drain," Hills says. "Water backs in from the Mississippi. It's naturally wetlands."

The wetlands is a joint venture of the Illinois Department of Conservation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ducks Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy and the Citizens Committee to Save the Cache. They are accumulating land only from willing sellers with the goal of establishing 60,000 acres as the wetlands. They currently have about half that number.

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance recognized the Cache River Basin in 1994, making it the 15th such site in the U.S. Among the others are Everglades National Park, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Chesapeake Bay Estuarine Complex.

The canoes will leave from the Lower Cache River Access Saturday. To get there, follow Highway 3 to McClure, the Grapevine Trail to Tamms, and Route 127 north to the Ullin Blacktop, turning right into Ullin. Turn left on Highway 51 at Ullin to the Perks Blacktop. Follow east beyond Perks about 2 miles to the state access sign.

From the air, the wetlands don't look huge and impenetrable, Hills says. "But when you're out in the middle of it you can feel, `My goodness, if I make a wrong turn, where will I end up?'"