Will County News

  As seasons change, so does the landscape at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.  The prairie restoration at the Iron Bridge is the second largest restoration at Midewin.  A variety of prairie plants bloom throughout the year, creating new landscapes each season. Early October fall colors at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie:

June 28th, 2020 at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Elwood, Illinois.  This video shows the Iron Bridge Trail Prairie Restoration. A shipping container train passes by blooming prairie plants at the start of this video:

Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie has shared photos of the first baby bison born at Midewin in 2019! A bison herd was reintroduced to Midewin in the fall of 2015 as part of a twenty-year study of the impact of bison grazing on prairie restoration. Photo courtesy of Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.  Rick Short / USDA Forest Service - Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie

April 20, 2017 At least one new baby bison has joined the herd at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie:

The City of Wilmington, Illinois honored the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie bison herd by naming the bison Grand Marshals of the 2016 Wilmington Catfish Days Parade. Bison were reintroduced to Midewin in October 2015 as part of an experiment to observe how bison grazing habits impact prairie restoration. Wilmington purchased a bison sculpture by the late, local artist Jack Barker in anticipation of the reintroduction and subsequent increased eco-tourism traffic heading to Midewin and Wilmington. The sculpture was pulled in the parade and was joined by Smokey the Bear and a large photo of a bison and a baby bison.  Beautiful native plants like the compass plant framed by bison photo, giving parade spectators a glimpse of what years of work to restore the tallgrass prairie in Illinois has yielded:

By Ann Baskerville Prairie Volunteers and Boy Scouts spent a Saturday morning helping Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie staff take native prairie plants out of winter storage.  According to Midewin botanist Jennifer Durkin, native prairie seedlings are housed in bunkers during the winter because the seedlings are still developing a strong root system and can not handle harsh winter weather.  The same characteristics that made the Joliet Army Ammunition Plant bunkers good places to store ammunition make them ideal for storing baby plants.  The bunkers's solid concrete covered by earth creates an insulated space that allows the plants to survive even the drastically low temperatures we experienced this winter. Ammunition bunkers in Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.  Native prairie plant seedlings are stored in a bunker through winter. Native plants stored inside a bunker at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie Volunteers form an assembly line to...

The U.S. Forest Service will be holding an Open House on Wednesday April 3, 2013 for community members to come and learn more about the proposal to establish a bison herd on Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.  Staff and partners from the National Forest Foundation will be available to explain more about the proposal, the environmental assessment process, and answer questions.   The Open House will be held between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. at the   Midewin Welcome Center-- 30239 S. State Route Illinois 53, Wilmington, IL. The Forest Service at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (Midewin) is proposing to establish a small herd of bison on the Prairie and will be preparing an environmental assessment for Bison Herd Establishment in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  In partnership with the National Forest Foundation (NFF), Midewin is proposing to develop a bison grazing area on approximately 1,200 acres. ...

By Ann Baskerville Thanks to support from the National Forest Foundation, eight graduates from North Lawndale College Prep High School are working on restoration and conservation projects at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie this summer.   In 2011 Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie was named part of the National Forest Foundation’s  Treasured Landscapes   campaign.  The focus of the campaign is to restore forests and Americans' connection to these public lands.  The National Forest Foundation is a non-profit organization charted by Congress and focused on connecting people to their National Forests.  “As part of the National Forest Foundation’s   Treasured Landscapes   campaign, we have made it a priority to connect urban residents and youth to our spectacular National Forest System,” said National Forest Foundation’s President Bill Possiel. “Thanks to a generous donor, we were able to give a team of high school youth from the Chicago area...