Restoring A Critical Landscape
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is a landscape defined by transformation. Located just outside of Chicago, it is one of the largest prairie restoration efforts in the Midwest. Its ongoing restoration tells the story of how a former agricultural and military landscape is being reconnected to the ecological processes that once shaped the region’s vast prairie ecosystem.
Turning Back the Clock
Tallgrass prairie once covered millions of acres across North America, supporting an extraordinary diversity of plants, wildlife, and ecological processes. Over time, much of that prairie was converted to agricultural fields and other developed uses, leaving only small remnants of this once vast ecosystem.
The land that is now Midewin has its own unique history. Following decades of agricultural use, the site became the Joliet Army Ammunition Plant during World War II, serving as a critical military production facility for much of the twentieth century. In 1996, the property was transferred to the U.S. Forest Service with a new vision: to restore native prairie while providing opportunities for public recreation and education.
Reviving Natural Processes
Today, restoration efforts are helping return ecological health and diversity to thousands of acres across the prairie. Every restored acre starts with native seed. Midewin’s restoration program focuses on producing, collecting, processing, and planting native plant species that can rebuild diverse prairie communities.
At Midewin, pollinators and bison work together to create a resilient ecosystem. The return of bison, supported through partnership investments, reintroduced a keystone species whose grazing patterns help maintain prairie health and diversity. Ongoing pollinator monitoring and ecological research provide critical information that guides adaptive management and measures restoration success over time.
This work is restoring more than habitat. Healthy prairie systems improve water quality, support biodiversity, and increase resilience to changing environmental conditions. As native vegetation becomes reestablished, the landscape is once again beginning to function as a connected ecosystem.
Visitors can experience this changing landscape through miles of trails, wildlife viewing opportunities, educational programs, and seasonal displays of native wildflowers. From restored grasslands and wetlands to the return of species such as bison that historically shaped prairie ecosystems, Midewin offers a living example of what long-term conservation can achieve.
Our Forests Need Us Today.
Your donation powers critical, on-the-ground conservation—from wildfire recovery to watershed restoration—protecting forests for the future.
