The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (19,000 acres) is the largest ongoing
tallgrass prairie restoration in the United States. This is also the first
time that a state agency (Illinois Department of Natural Resources, IDNR) and a
federal agency (U.S. Forest Service, USFS) have joined forces to work on such a
project. Midewin is located in Will County, just north of the town of
Wilmington, approximately 40 miles southwest of Chicago.
Entrance to Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.
Midewin was formerly the Joliet Army Arsenal, where the explosive TNT was produced during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars. In 1976 the arsenal was shut down and in 1993 23,500 acres of surrounding land were declared "excess federal land." Under the leadership of Congressman George Sangmeister and the Joliet Arsenal Citizen's Planning Commission, a rescue plan was developed for the land. As a consequence of this plan, the Prairie Parklands Macrosite was developed, including most of the original arsenal property together with other nearby public and private land in a natural state.
Midewin was established through the Illinois Land Conservation Act (ILCA) of 1995, legislation designating the transfer of 19,000 acres from the Army to the USFS. In 1997 almost 15,000 acres were transferred. The ILCA mandates that Midewin will be managed to meet four primary objectives: 1) to conserve, restore, and enhance the native population of fish, wildlife, and plants; 2) to provide opportunities for scientific, environmental, and land-use education and research; 3) to allow the continuation of existing agricultural uses of land within Midewin for the next 20 years, or for compatible resource management uses thereafter; and 4) to provide recreational opportunities that are not incompatible with the above purposes.
Based on 19th century records, Midewin appeared at the time of settlement to be approximately 86% prairie, 14% forest, and less than 1% swamp (wetland). Today, most of the site is pasture and cropland, with minimal native vegetation. Nonetheless, at Midewin you can find remnant native vegetation in habitats that include wetlands, woodlands, and several grassland types, ranging from tall, medium (hay), and short grass prairie. These areas contain small pockets of native diversity including blazing star (Liatrus pycnostachya, L. spicata), sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale), gentian (Gentiana andrewsii), sunflowers (Helianthus spp.), prairie plantain (Cacalia plantaginea), meadow rues (Thalictrum spp.), ironweed (Vernonia fasciculata), goldenrods (Solidago spp.), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans), prairie cord grass (Spartina pectinata), and switch grass (Panicum virgatum). Midewin has one of the largest dolomite prairies within the state. Here are found many of our endangered and threatened plant species, including the only federally endangered plant species, the leafy prairie clover (Dalea foliosa). Midewin has four streams: Jackson Creek, Grant Creek, Prairie Creek, and Jordan Creek. Finally, Midewin is home to 16 state endangered and threatened species, including the Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) and the Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda).
The long- term plan for Midewin is to restore and reconstruct prairies and other habitats, such as wetlands. To accomplish this, the USFS has developed a native plant nursery to generate the massive seed sources that will be used for the restorations. In addition to the USFS and IDNR, restoration involves private organizations, such as the Open Lands Project and hundreds of volunteers.
Research is being conducted by Survey staff and investigators from cooperating institutions. Chris Whelan of INHS is studying habitat selection and reproductive ecology of bird species, including Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii), and Brenda Molano- Flores (INHS) is determining the breeding systems of several plant species, such as pale-spike lobelia (Lobelia spicata) and rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium). Chris and Brenda have also developed monitoring programs for the birds and plants occupying the site. Projects conducted by cooperators include studies of jumping spiders; trophic interaction chains involving fish-eating birds, fish, and their invertebrate and algal resources; and the potential for wetland restoration. Proposals for studies of insect dispersal and soil seed banks have been submitted.
The sheer scale of the restoration of Midewin is quite a challenge. Nonetheless, the effort will produce unique and valuable information on the structure and function of the tallgrass prairie ecosystem, and it will serve as an example for cooperation of federal, state, private organizations, and volunteers.
Brenda Molano-Flores and Christopher J. Whelan, Center for Biodiversity
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