Largest tallgrass prairie restoration area in the United States, located in Illinois
Flora of the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
The
Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
(
MNTP
) is a
tallgrass prairie
reserve and is preserved as
United States National Grassland
operated by the
United States Forest Service
. The first national tallgrass prairie ever designated in the U.S. and the largest conservation site in the
Chicago Wilderness
region, it is located on the site of the former
Joliet Army Ammunition Plant
between the towns of
Elwood
,
Manhattan
and
Wilmington
in northeastern
Illinois
. Since 2015, it has hosted a conservation herd of
American bison
to study their interaction with prairie restoration and conservation.
Ecology
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The
tallgrass prairie
reserve is in the
central forest-grasslands transition
ecoregion
of the
temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands
biome
.
Midewin remains the only federal tallgrass prairie preserve east of the
Mississippi River
, where surviving areas of that
habitat
are extremely rare. With the adjacent
Des Plaines Fish and Wildlife Area
and a number of other state and county protected areas in the immediate area, Midewin forms the heart of a conservation macrosite totaling more than 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) of protected land.
The pre-European settlement vegetation map of Midewin shows most of the site was prairie prior to the arrival of European settlers.
[3]
The northwestern corner of the site along Jackson Creek was forest. Another small, forested area existed in the extreme southwest corner of Midewin along the Kankakee River and Prairie Creek.
Several not-for-profit conservation organizations have played active roles in the restoration of high-quality tallgrass prairie, dolomite prairie,
[4]
sedge meadows, swales and related communities at Midewin.
[5]
These include
the Wetlands Initiative
,
Openlands
, and the Illinois chapter of
The Nature Conservancy
and several other members of the
Chicago Wilderness
collaborative.
[6]
[7]
[8]
History
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]
Midewin is a place that embodies the wide-ranging possibilities for recalibrating our relationships with the natural world . . . it also establishes a path into the future in which respectful coexistence with nature is foregrounded . . . And amidst the
Sixth Extinction
of wild species, when three billion birds alone have been lost from North America in just the past 50 years, Midewin also reveals . . . what can be returned to the world when we devote our energies, attention, and care to it.
Julian Hoffman (2020)
[9]
The name
Midewin
(
,
mi-
DAY
-win
) is a
Potowatomi
Native American word referring to the tribe's healers, who it was believed also kept the tribal society in balance.
[10]
Research since the establishment of the park has found evidence of a pre-European?contact village (c. 1600) from the
Oneota culture
in a place on the site called Middle Creek.
[11]
Establishment
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]
The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie was established by federal law in 1996. Major proponents of the prairie establishment and restoration included World War II
flying ace
William J. Cullerton
.
[12]
The Illinois Land Conservation Act (Public Law 104-106) created the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, designated the transfer of 19,165 acres (7,756 ha) of land in Illinois from the
U.S. Army
to the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Forest Service.
The Illinois Land Conservation Act mandates that Midewin be managed to meet four primary objectives:
- To conserve, restore, and enhance the native populations and habitats of fish, wildlife, and plants.
- To provide opportunities for scientific, environmental, and land use education and research.
- To allow the continuation of existing agricultural uses of lands within Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie for the next 20 years, or for compatible resource management uses thereafter.
- To provide recreational opportunities that are compatible with the above purposes.
Land
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]
MNTP entrance
The first land transfer from the Army to the Forest Service took place on March 10, 1997, and included 15,080 acres (6,100 ha) of land that was believed to be free from contamination. Subsequent land acquisitions place the current size of Midewin at about 20,000 acres (8,100 ha).
Bison
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Bison at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in June 2016
In 2015, the prairie approved the use of 1,200 acres (490 ha) to establish a conservation herd of
American Bison
. The 20-year plan will study the relationship between the historic large grazing animal, which almost became extinct, and prairie restoration and health. In October, a herd of 27 bison were introduced. Four bulls were transferred from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,
Fort Collins, Colorado
, and 23 cows were obtained from a ranch in
Gann Valley
, in Buffalo County, South Dakota. This was the first U.S. Forest Service project of its kind.
[13]
[14]
By late spring 2017, births had increased the size of the herd to around 50.
[15]
Access
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After a period of
ecological restoration
, part of the prairie opened to visitors in 2004.
Today, over 7,000 acres (2,800 ha) of the reserve are open, with public trails for non-motorized recreation. The MNTP headquarters entrance and visitors center is located on
Illinois Route 53
, near the center of the preserve.
See also
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Notes
[
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]
- ^
"Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie"
.
Geographic Names Information System
.
United States Geological Survey
,
United States Department of the Interior
. Retrieved
December 22,
2012
.
- ^
"Land Areas of the National Forest System"
(PDF)
. U.S. Forest Service. January 2013. Archived from
the original
on July 1, 2013
. Retrieved
December 22,
2012
.
- ^
"Pre-European settlement vegetation map"
. Exhibits.museum.state.il.us
. Retrieved
July 27,
2013
.
- ^
"Dolomite Prairie"
. Illinois State Museum
. Retrieved
July 27,
2013
.
- ^
Bowman, Dale (December 22, 2023).
"Granted, nothing middling about this move at Midewin"
.
Chicago Sun-Times
. Retrieved
January 6,
2024
.
- ^
"Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie"
. The Wetlands Initiative. Archived from
the original
on December 6, 2013
. Retrieved
July 27,
2013
.
- ^
"Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie"
. Openlands. February 10, 1996
. Retrieved
July 27,
2013
.
- ^
"Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie | The Nature Conservancy"
. Nature.org. July 12, 2013
. Retrieved
July 27,
2013
.
- ^
"Restoring wetlands: A path into the future"
.
The Wetlands Initiative
. December 8, 2020
. Retrieved
November 19,
2021
.
- ^
Slowik, Ted (February 11, 2021).
"Column: Nature lovers celebrate 25th anniversary of Will County's Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie"
.
chicagotribune.com
. Retrieved
February 12,
2021
.
- ^
Vaisvilas, Frank.
"Midewin prairie dig may unearth clues about ancient culture that disappeared, researchers hope"
.
Daily Southtown
. Retrieved
July 12,
2018
.
- ^
Megan, Graydon (January 16, 2013).
"William Cullerton, 1923-2013 WWII pilot, entrepreneur, radio host and well-known outdoorsman championed conservation"
.
Chicago Tribune
. Retrieved
January 25,
2013
.
- ^
Chicago Tribune (October 24, 2015).
"Midewin preserve now home for bison, back 'after a few thousand years'
"
.
Daily Southtown
.
- ^
"Bison to roam Midewin prairie again"
.
my.chicagotribune.com
. Retrieved
March 29,
2015
.
- ^
Lafferty, Susan DeMar (May 28, 2017).
"More baby bison born at Midewin"
.
chicagotribune.com
. Retrieved
September 23,
2017
.
References
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External links
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