Introduction

The Illinois Gap Analysis Project (IL-GAP) aims to provide an assessment of the management status for vegetation communities and vertebrate species throughout their range in Illinois. Furthermore, IL-GAP seeks to provide land stewards with information on the representation of these communities and species on their land so they can make informed decisions about their management practices regarding biodiversity. To accomplish these goals, the distributions of vegetation communities and vertebrate species are compared to a map of land stewardship. The land stewardship map combines attributes of ownership, management, and a measure of intent to maintain biodiversity. In Illinois, the public lands are the properties in which IL-GAP is most interested.

Public Lands of Illinois

The public lands included in this map are managed for their biological resources. About 4% of the state's total area is contained within public lands. The public lands of Illinois include:

Federal land - includes land owned by the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These are shown in green on the map at right. State land - includes state forests, state parks, state fish and wildlife areas, nature preserves, and natural areas. These are shown in red on the map at right. County land - includes Forest Preserve Districts and Conservation Districts. These are shown in dark blue on the map at right. Other land - includes nature preserves and natural areas not owned, but managed by Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Each property was assigned a status code that indicated its level of management. The status codes are:

• Status 1: An area having permanent protection from conversion of natural land cover and a mandated management plan in operation to maintain a natural state within which disturbance events (of natural type, frequency, intensity, and legacy) are allowed to proceed without interference or are mimicked through management.

• Status 2: An area having permanent protection from conversion of natural land cover and a mandated management plan in operation to maintain a primarily natural state, but which may receive uses or management practices that degrade the quality of existing natural communities, including suppression of natural disturbance.

• Status 3: An area having permanent protection from conversion of natural land cover for the majority of the area, but subject to extractive uses of either a broad, low-intensity type (e.g., logging) or localized intense type (e.g., mining). It also confers protection to federally listed endangered and threatened species throughout the area.

• Status 4: There are no known public or private institutional mandates or legally recognized easements or deed restrictions held by the managing entity to prevent conversion of natural habitat types to anthropogenic habitat types. The area generally allows conversion to unnatural land cover throughout.

The percentage of Illinois' public lands falling into each of these status codes is:

• Status 1: 1.3% (includes nature preserves and natural areas)

• Status 2: 25.3% (includes state parks and forests and forest preserve districts)

• Status 3: 72.5% (includes state parks, fish and wildlife areas, and national forests)

• Status 4: 0.9% (includes some county lands, U.S. Army lands, and Soil and Water Conservation District lands)

Last updated Thursday, 04/17/2003 4:17 PM