Press Releases

NFF announces Midewin restoration plans

WILMINGTON, ILLINOIS -- On Friday, October 14, governmental, environmental and corporate leaders gathered at the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie to celebrate a unique partnership to restore America’s native tallgrass prairie ecosystem. The National Forest Foundation (NFF) has launched a large-scale initiative that unites public and private partners to revitalize a rare stretch of tallgrass prairie and reconnect people to our Midwestern prairie heritage.

America’s prairies once stretched far and wide, but agricultural use and development have left us with less than one-tenth of one percent of our historic prairie lands. In northeastern Illinois, the prairie changed dramatically first through agriculture and wetland drainage, and then again when what is now the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie served as the site of the Joliet Army Ammunition Plant. About 45 percent of today’s Midewin area was modified for the construction of roads, railroads, and buildings. The arsenal’s manufacture of TNT and other explosives further damaged the surrounding natural environment.

Through a grassroots effort, the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie was authorized by legislation in 1996 that allowed the transfer of over 19,000 acres from the U.S. Army to the U.S. Forest Service. Today, as the largest single parcel of protected open space in northeastern Illinois, Midewin plays an essential role in the Chicago Wilderness Region, an integrated plan for more than 200,000 acres of conservation lands open for public enjoyment.

“Today is a landmark day, when the National Forest Foundation joins with us to help us accomplish our vision of creating a legacy of restored tallgrass prairie and conservation of open lands for future generations to treasure,” said Wade Spang, Midewin prairie supervisor.

In designating Midewin as a Treasured Landscapes restoration site, the NFF has first focused on the South Prairie Creek Outwash Plain – about 2,084 acres on the prairie’s western side. When complete, this restoration activity will link together two ongoing restoration projects and many native prairie/wetland remnants, increasing habitat connectivity for grassland wildlife.

But beyond this project, there are significant ongoing restoration needs. To address those needs, the NFF brought together a diverse group of area stakeholders – including The Wetlands Initiative, Openlands, Chicago Wilderness, and several others – to help craft a 10-year “Shared Vision for Restoration.” This long-term plan lays out a strategy for restoring the entire prairie and for significantly enhancing the visitor experience at Midewin – with everything from expanded trail systems to reintroducing bison.

“Midewin offers us a rare opportunity to actually turn back the clock and restore a native landscape to its historical conditions,” said NFF President Bill Possiel. “Thanks to a tremendous collaborative effort, we now have a plan in place to unite public and private partners in a restoration strategy that will put waves of tallgrass prairie back in the Prairie State.”

The NFF's restoration and restoration planning work at Midewin has been generously supported by Alliance Pipeline and the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation.

See the Midewin Shared Vision Plan here.

WATCH OUR MIDEWIN VIDEO.

About the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie

The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie was established in 1996 on the former U.S. Army Joliet Arsenal. It is the first national tallgrass prairie in the country and one of the newest units of the National Forest System. Midewin represents a major effort to restore 20,000 acres of farmland and industrial land to a unique American landscape and the complex ecology of a tallgrass prairie. Its mission also includes providing education and recreation opportunities. All of Midewin’s programs and progress are thanks to the support of hundreds of volunteers and partner agencies, businesses, and organizations. Public access to Midewin was restricted during the Army’s cleanup of contaminants remaining from decades of munitions manufacture. But, today, the Army cleanup is complete and 7,200 acres of Midewin and 22 miles of trails are open to the public for nonmotorized recreation. Midewin is also the largest open space in the Chicago metropolitan area and northeastern Illinois. Even while ecological restoration is underway, it offers respite from the urban world and an opportunity to be immersed in a unique landscape within an hour’s drive of downtown Chicago.