The Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (MNTP) is a

tallgrass prairie The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. Historically, natural and anthropogenic fire, as well as grazing by large mammals (primarily bison) provided periodic disturbances to these ecosystems, limiting the encroachm ...

reserve and similarly preserved as United States National Grassland operated by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Nationa ...

. 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 Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and Wilmington in northeastern

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. Since 2015, it has hosted a conservation herd of

American bison The American bison (''Bison bison'') is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as American buffalo or simply buffalo (a different clade of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the ...

to study their interaction with prairie restoration and conservation.

Ecology

The

reserve is in the

central forest-grasslands transition Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

of the

temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The predominant vegetation in this biome consists of grass and/or shrubs. The climate is temperate and ranges from semi-arid to semi ...

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

. Midewin remains the only federal tallgrass prairie preserve east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

, where surviving areas of that

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

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 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. 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, sedge meadows, swales and related communities at Midewin. These include

the Wetlands Initiative The Wetlands Initiative (TWI) is a non-profit conservation organization headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, United States. The Wetlands Initiative works with nonprofit and government partners and local communities to advance wetland restoration a ...

Openlands Openlands is a non-profit conservation organization and accredited land trust that works with groups and individuals in northeastern Illinois, northwestern Indiana, and southeastern Wisconsin to preserve open space, develop walking and biking tr ...

, and the Illinois chapter of

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

and several other members of the Chicago Wilderness collaborative.

History

The name '' Midewin'' (, ) is a

Potowatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a me ...

Native American word referring to the tribe's healers, who it was believed also kept the tribal society in balance. 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.

Establishment

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 A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

William J. Cullerton. The Illinois Land Conservation Act (Public Law 104-106) created the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, designated the transfer of of land in Illinois from the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

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

Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie Headquarters

The first land transfer from the Army to the Forest Service took place on March 10, 1997, and included of land that was believed to be free from contamination. Subsequent land acquisitions place the current size of Midewin at about .

Bison

In 2015, the prairie approved the use of to establish a conservation herd of

American Bison The American bison (''Bison bison'') is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as American buffalo or simply buffalo (a different clade of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the ...

. 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 Fort Collins is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 169,810 at the 2020 census, an increase of 17.94% since 2010. Fort Collin ...

, 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. By late spring 2017, births had increased the size of the herd to around 50.

Access

After a period of ecological restoration, part of the prairie opened to visitors in 2004. Today, over 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 Illinois Route 53 (IL 53) is an arterial north–south state highway in northeast Illinois. IL 53 runs from Main Street west of historic U.S. Route 66 (US 66) in Gardner to IL 83 in Long Grove, a distance of . It mainly ...

, near the center of the preserve.

Notes

References

usda.gov: Text of Illinois Land Conservation Act of 1995
— ''law establishing Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie''.

External links

Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
US Forest Service *
A Midewin Almanac
, blog covering the restoration of the site
The National Forest Foundation: "Restoration and Conservation Plan for Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie"
— ''(2011 plan)'' {{authority control Grasslands of the North American Great Plains Geography of Will County, Illinois National Grasslands of the United States Prairies Protected areas of Illinois Protected areas of Will County, Illinois Protected areas established in 1996 Grasslands of Illinois 1996 establishments in Illinois