Earth Partnership for Schools
PRAIRIES AND PRAIRIE RESTORATION
"Chicago Wilderness is a regional nature reserve, comprising an archipelago of 200,000 acres of protected natural lands in the metropolitan region. It is the globally significant concentration of rare natural communities--the woodlands, forests, grasslands, streams and wetlands--found in the crescent from southeastern Wisconsin to the six-county Chicago region through northwestern Indiana...Chicago Wilderness is also an unprecedented partnership of 88 public and private organizations that have joined forces to protect, restore and manage these natural lands and the plants and animals that inhabit them." (From the Chicago Wilderness web page.)
According to the Illinois Ecological Page, "According to the Illinois Critical Trends Assessment Project (CTAP), there are five major natural ecosystems in Illinois: Prairies, Wetlands, Forests, Rivers and Streams, and Lakes. Two other human-made ecosytems, urban areas and agricultural areas, are also prevalent in Illinois. Many smaller, more specific ecosystems can be found within larger ones." (From the web site.) This site provides illustrated historical and current information about the five major natural ecosystems found in Illinois.
"Konza Prairie Research Natural Area (KPRNA) is a 3,487 hectare tallgrass prairie preserve owned by The Nature Conservancy and Kansas State University and operated as a field research station by the KSU Division of Biology. The station is dedicated to a three-fold mission of long-term ecological research, education, and prairie conservation. It is a unique outdoor laboratory that provides opportunities for the study of tallgrass prairie ecosystems and for basic biological research. The station is open to scientists and students from throughout the world. It also serves as a 'benchmark' for comparisons with areas that have been affected by human activities, and as an environmental education facility for students and the public." (From the Konza Prairie web site.)
Meadowbrook Prairie Restoration
"In 1978, the Urbana Park District planted prairie seeds on a small piece of former farm field at Meadowbrook Park in southeast Urbana. Since 1984, the Champaign County Audubon Society has worked with the Park District to maintain and enrich the prairie plantings. Additional plantings from 1984 to 1993 added about 15 more acres. Final expansion of the prairie occurred in July of 1996, and the total area of the restored prairie now exceeds 60 acres. Meadowbrook Park now offers a glimpse of the former landscape of Illinois - the grasses that once stretched to the horizon - and the many species of wildflowers that by the millions colored the prairies yellow, pink, and white." (From the Meadowbrook Prairie web site.)
Neal Smith (Walnut Creek) National Wildlife Refuge
"Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge (formerly Walnut Creek), located in Jasper County, Iowa, is a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System administered by the federal government. The Refuge was created by an act of Congress in 1990 to re-create 8000 acres of tallgrass prairie and oak savanna, the native plant and animal communities existing in central Iowa prior to Euro-American settlement in the 1840's." (From the Neal Smith NWR web site.)
"The Shaw Arboretum Ecological Reserve contains 13 miles of hiking trails through a full array of Ozark Border landscapes, including floodplain forest, oak-hickory woods, glades, bluffs, tall-grass prairie, savanna and marsh wetlands. The latter three are landscapes which once covered much of Missouri and are being restored or recreated from former farmland in the Arboretum." (From the Shaw Arboretum Ecological Reserve web page.)
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve: ZBar/Spring Hill Ranch
"The only unit of the National Park System dedicated to the rich natural and cultural history of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem, the preserve was created in 1996. This portion of the once vast tallgrass prairie is being preserved as a critical resource for the benefit of and enjoyment of present and future generations. Indeed, the private/public partnership of the National Park Trust (NPT) and the National Park Service (NPS) is a unique approach to conservation that will pay dividends for all of us in the years to come. Both organizations strive to protect our nation's significant resources. The federal government will own a small portion of the preserve with NPT continuing to own the rest of the property - nearly 11,000 acres." (From the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve web site.)