Illinois Nature Preserves Commission 60th Anniversary

 Featured Sites 51-55 

Each site in the Nature Preserves system has a unique story to tell about its history. Whether it's about how the site became dedicated, prior land uses, or the commitment of landowners and organizations, every site has its own distinct and rich history. And who better to tell these stories than former and current directors of the INPC? The November feature will narrate site history, from committed stewards who purchased land when no one else would, to land organizations partnering together to protect and manage a site.

• White Rock Nature Preserve Complex
• Beaver Dam Glacial Drift Hill Prairie Land and Water Reserve
• Witter's Bobtown Hill Prairie Nature Preserve
• Embarras River Land and Water Reserve
• Carl N. Becker Savanna Nature Preserve

 Featured Sites 46-50 

Come along and explore this month’s featured sites! Did you know that the Illinois Natural Areas Inventory serves as a guide for determining which lands and waters are eligible for protection in the Nature Preserves System? The qualifying natural areas and features can be vastly different yet equally important, as these stories show, from the largest remaining remnant of cypress-tupelo swamp in southern Illinois to the best remaining example of riparian dolomite prairie in the world.

• Meredosia Hill Prairie Nature Preserve
• Heron Pond - Little Black Slough Nature Preserve
• Bohm Woods Nature Preserve Complex
• Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve
• Hopewell Hill Prairies Nature Preserve

 Featured Sites 41-45 

Illinois' strong commitment made it the first state to create such an innovative land protection program. Many other states have followed Illinois' lead in implementing an efficient and effective program to provide long-term protection for high quality natural areas. For the past 60 years staff of conservation agencies and organizations, volunteers, and site stewards have continued to protect hill prairies, streams, forests, woodlands, and other high quality natural areas, and will continue to do so in order to preserve the state's biodiversity and natural heritage for future generations.

• Gibbons Creek Barrens Land and Water Reserve (soon to be upgraded to Nature Preserve status)
• Josua Lindahl Hill Prairies Nature Preserve
• Fults Hill Prairie Nature Preserve
• Karcher's Post Oak Woods Nature Preserve
• Sandra Miller Bellrose Nature Preserve

 Featured Sites 36-40 

As you explore this month’s edition, you will discover a diverse range of sites and features protected in Illinois’ Nature Preserves System, including the largest known winter roosting site for bald eagles along the Mississippi River; the first site to be registered exclusively for the presence of archaeological and cultural heritage resources; an island site cared for by volunteers; and a site known for its virtually undisturbed freshwater natural communities. 

• Cedar Glen Nature Preserve
• Casper Bluff Land and Water Reserve
• Kankakee River Nature Preserve, Langham Island Unit
• Jordan Creek of the North Fork Nature Preserve
• Sand Prairie-Scrub Oak Nature Preserve

 Featured Sites 31-35 

Lands in Illinois' Nature Preserves System can be privately or publicly owned, and range from 1-acre to several thousand acres. In the 60 years that the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission has been protecting land, it has accumulated a diverse range of sites, from those managed by private landowners named in honor of a lost loved one, to sites under 10 acres but still more floristically rich and biodiverse than those triple its size, to components of large State Parks that attract nature enthusiasts from across the state.

• Round Pond Nature Preserve
• Fern Rocks Nature Preserve
• Old Plank Road Prairie Nature Preserve
• Pilcher Park Nature Preserve & Land and Water Reserve
• Edward F. Vassallo Land and Water Reserve

 Featured Sites 26-30 

Did you know that more than 25% of all occurrences of Illinois' threatened or endangered species are found on Illinois Nature Preserves Commission-protected lands? In this month's feature you will learn about sites which protect some of the rarest plant and animal species in the state, including the cerulean warbler, primrose violet, ornate box turtle, buffalo clover, eastern blue-eyed grass, and regal fritillary butterfly.

• Deer Grove West Woodland and Wetland Nature Preserve
• Buck Hill Bottom & Marilandica Acres Land and Water Reserves
• Iroquois Sands Land and Water Reserve
• Crevecoeur Nature Preserve
• American Beech Woods Nature Preserve

 Featured Sites 21-25 

Together, protected areas in the Nature Preserves system preserve many of Illinois' natural treasures. INPC staff, landowners, volunteers, and other organizations work together to manage and maintain the ecological integrity of these high quality natural areas. The May edition highlights stewardship and management activities at the featured sites, including restoration to bring back remnant communities, control of invasive species to promote native vegetation, use of prescribed burning regimes, and regeneration of dominant native tree species.

• Stony Hills Nature Preserve
• Beadles Barrens Nature Preserve
• Elkhart Hill Grove Prairie Nature Preserve
• Kishwaukee Fen Nature Preserve
• Carpenter Park Nature Preserve

 Featured Sites 16-20 

The April feature highlights Nachusa Grasslands and its high-quality relict natural communities, extensive grasslands, and animal reintroductions to restore prairie landscape. In addition to Nachusa Grasslands, it also focuses on Illinois' strong commitment to providing for its highest quality natural areas, including savanna remnants, rare undisturbed seep communities, the largest limestone glade system in the state, and historic cemetery prairies.

• Nachusa Grasslands Nature Preserve & Land and Water Reserve
• Harry N. Patterson Savanna Land and Water Reserve
• Forest Glen Seep Nature Preserve
• Collier Limestone Glade and Lafarge Limestone Glade Nature Preserves
• Loda Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve

 Featured Sites 11-15 

Each Nature Preserve and Land and Water Reserve is unique and has its own remarkable story to tell. In the March feature you will learn about some of these stories including incredible efforts to prevent the destruction of sites by keeping them undisturbed, families voluntarily preserving land to protect Illinois' natural heritage for future generations, and trees of such great size and height they were at one time state champions.

• Sweet Fern Savanna Land and Water Reserve
• Prospect Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve
• Beall Woods Nature Preserve & Land and Water Reserve
• Jennings Family Hill Prairie Nature Preserve
• Russell M. Duffin Nature Preserve

 Featured Sites 6-10 

The sites in February's feature honor a person whose career contributed greatly to the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission's work, a group of people who collectively are protecting a site, and a preserve that emphasizes outdoor education. Weaved throughout are good examples of restoration and partnership with others – professionals, landowners, forest preserve districts, and volunteers. 

• Robert A. Evers Land and Water Reserve
• Boone Creek Fen Nature Preserve
• Ballard Nature Center Land and Water Reserve
• Cranberry Slough Nature Preserve
• Hickory Creek Barrens Nature Preserve