ST. LOUIS (AP) - In southern Illinois, the boardwalk over the swamp is back.

Known as the Wetland Warriors, the Creal Springs School group used $15,000 of the prize money won in a Disney Planet science competition last year. They will use the remaining $5,000 for a wildlife viewing blind and to purchase radio transmitters for research.

The middle school group won the competition for creating educational materials and a website about their projects, including transplanting vegetation, maintaining trails and testing water quality. Their teacher, Fran Wachter, also received an award from the Illinois Science Teachers Association.

The boardwalk allows visitors to walk through a floodplain forest in the Cache River Wetlands. Flood damage closed the boardwalk in 2008.

Other repair money came from state and local support groups.

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