Illinois Conservation Results Report 2022

ILLINOIS

CONSERVATION RESULTS REPORT 2022

Partnering for People and Places

Coalition Helps Pass Historic Referendum for Cook County Lands and Waters

Over the past year, important conservation legislation in 14 states was approved by voters, securing more than $7 billion for conservation and moving us closer to achieving The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC’s) ambitious 2030 goals. This includes the Vote Yes for Clean Air, Clean Water, and Wildlife referendum in Illinois, which will generate approximately $45 million for the Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPCC) annually, totaling $1 billion over 25 years. This is essential for protecting Chicagoland’s biodiversity, providing flood absorption and heat protection as we reckon with climate change and ensuring the region’s more than 5 million people have access to healthy outdoor spaces.

Partnership is key to tackling these complex challenges, and passing this important referendum was no exception. TNC co-led a coalition of environmental, labor, civic, business and faith organizations that worked together to educate residents about Vote Yes for Clean Air, Clean Water, and Wildlife. The legislation was crafted to secure critical funding for the FPCC, the nation’s largest and oldest forest preserve system, by approving a property tax increase of 0.025%. The funding stands to expand the preserves, which means there will be more trees to absorb pollution and keep our air healthy, and more habitat to store and filter stormwater, thereby reducing flooding and cleaning our fresh water. The funding also creates additional job opportunities in local communities and safeguards green space and wildlife habitat for 5 million residents.

Working together, TNC and partner organizations helped Illinois voters take a step toward a healthier planet. The outreach campaign resulted in a resounding “yes” on election day, which ensures the forest preserves—covering 70,000 acres across Cook County—will have the funds needed to thrive throughout the region.

© Joshua Lott; © Joshua Lott

Buffalo Head Home to Tribal Lands

Around the globe, Indigenous Peoples have long protected their lands and waters in reciprocity with nature, often guided by deep connections to place, culture and ways of knowing. When we are invited to collaborate, TNC works in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities to support their visions, learn from their stewardship experiences and amplify their leadership in conserving lands, waters and ways of life.

TNC’s partnership with the InterTribal Buffalo Council (ITBC), Tanka Fund and Native Nations is an example of this work. TNC is honored to support them in their vision of restoring buffalo to Tribal lands. In the fall of 2022, more than 850 buffalo from eight TNC

preserves, including Illinois’ own Nachusa Grasslands, were relocated to Tribal Nations across the U.S.

Buffalo are a keystone species whose role is integral to natural relationships. Restoring buffalo on Tribal lands is an essential step in repairing the loss of natural and cultural connections. “The significance of buffalo extends beyond their physical presence on the land,” said Troy Heinert, Sicangu Lakota, ITBC executive director. “They represent a positive force toward spiritual and cultural revitalization, ecological restoration and conservation, food sovereignty, health, economic development and much more as each buffalo is brought back home.”

STAR Sustainability Pilot Continues in Central Illinois

The Midwest is known for its bountiful and diverse agricultural production, and Illinois is no exception. The Prairie State is one of the country’s leading agricultural producers, ranking third nationally in the export of agricultural commodities. But this incredible productivity comes at a cost. Intense land use is impacting soil health and causing erosion that harms streams, rivers and lakes. The runoff of excess nitrogen and phosphorus (two nutrients used to fertilize crops and that are naturally abundant in prairie soils) pollutes water in and down the Mississippi River, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

to the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy goals of reducing nitrogen and phosphorus loss by 45% and vetted by a local technical advisory committee made up of representatives from all the agriculture sectors—retail, commodity, government agencies and farmers. TNC has been a supporter of the initiative since its inception.

Farmers and landowners across Illinois are working to implement sustainable practices that address these issues, and the STAR initiative was developed by the Champaign County Soil & Water Conservation District in 2017 to assist in these efforts. STAR stands for Saving Tomorrow’s Agriculture Resources, and this free and voluntary evaluation tool awards STARs on a scale of one to five to farmers who adopt practices that address the loss of soil and fertilizer runoff on farm fields. The ratings are regionally specific, linked

In 2022, TNC and the Kellogg Company, in cooperation with merchandiser Archer Daniels Midland Company, worked to increase interest in a STAR pay-for-performance pilot that encourages farmers in central Illinois to adopt and/or maintain conservation practices through a cash incentive. Farmers who sign up for the program can receive funding in two ways: if their field has earned a 5-STAR rating, or if the field shows an improvement in STAR ratings over two crop years. The goal of the pilot is to understand if incentive programs managed through grain buyers increases farmer participation and results, and this year’s pilot proved that interest is increasing. In July, TNC coordinated with all project partners to educate farmers about the cash incentive through an improved outreach campaign. As a result of these efforts, twice as many farmers enrolled during the eight-week sign-up period compared to the previous year.

Funding for the pilot was provided through the Midwest Row Crop Collaborative, a unique partnership aligned to drive positive environmental change in the Mississippi River Basin. Members are industry-leading supply chain companies, such as Kellogg, and environmental nonprofits, including TNC.

Leveraging our Lands for Visitor Engagement

Across the country, TNC owns natural lands that provide important benefits to people and nature. From the small-but-mighty marshes and fens of the Midwest, to the vast forests of the north, to the deserts of the west, each preserve helps clean the air we breathe, filter the water we drink and give rare species the habitat they need to survive. These preserves also perform another invaluable service: an opportunity for people to connect with and learn about the natural world—a key step in ensuring that nature is protected for generations to come.

In 2022, TNC set out to better understand just how many visitors explore our preserves with the “Leveraging Our Lands” survey. Signature preserves from across the country were ranked by attendance, and two Illinois preserves broke the top 20. Emiquon hosts around 65,000 visitors each year and Nachusa Grasslands isn’t far behind with 35,000 annual visitors.

At Emiquon, we are going further to learn how people feel about the preserve and if a visit can influence their views of conservation. In 2022, we began the first phase of a research project to evaluate visitation patterns and some basic demographic data. This effort will expand in 2023 to include visitor interviews and surveys. Ultimately, the information we gather in this four-year study will help us better understand what motivates preserve visitation, identify any obstacles to entry and inform plans and policies to refine how we manage Emiquon. Furthermore, we will produce a toolkit to help other preserve managers follow a similar path of inquiry.

bottom © Laura Stoeckert; © Charles Larry; © Laura Stoecker

New Acquisitions Grow Prairie Habitat at Nachusa Grasslands

When Illinois became known as The Prairie State in the 1840s, thousands of miles of tallgrass prairie, wetlands and oak and hickory savanna covered the landscape. Today, Illinois’s prairie has all but disappeared: 99.9% of it has been converted for agriculture and human development. But at Nachusa Grasslands in north central Illinois, you can still experience the rolling acres of prairie that gave the state its nickname.

Nachusa began with one 300-acre purchase in the 1980s, and today has grown to more than 4,000 acres. Thanks to several recent land acquisitions, that number grew by 215 acres in 2022. Each addition was

carefully selected based on the benefits it will provide to the overall health of the preserve and the wildlife that call it home. Two of the purchases, for example, create a large block of protected habitat that will support migratory grassland birds and other wildlife, such as ornate box turtles, badgers and myriad insects. Another purchase came with an historic farmhouse, which is already proving useful for visiting scientists conducting research on the prairie. These additional tracts support the long-term vision for Nachusa by protecting rare prairie habitat and increasing access and stewardship opportunities on a rare and treasured landscape.

© Chris Helzer; © Charles Larry; © Charles Larry

Chauncey Marsh is Growing

Wetlands are “biological supermarkets,” providing food for a staggering diversity of wildlife. In addition, they provide valuable benefits to nearby communities, such as absorbing flooding and filtering water. Yet today, they’re in danger: In some states, as much as 90% of wetlands have been destroyed.

In 2022, TNC helped the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) grow Chauncey Marsh, a vital marsh habitat in the Illinois portion of the Wabash Valley. The area’s mix of sloughs, oak-hickory woodlands and restored prairie is home to 11 state-listed species, including bald eagles, least bitterns, cerulean warblers and eastern ribbon snakes.

To increase the size and connectivity of this important marsh, TNC purchased a 649-acre parcel of unprotected land adjacent to property already owned by IDNR. The purchase is a mix of farmland and forest. The Embarras River also runs through the property. By putting this parcel into conservation management, TNC and IDNR have created a 1,300-acre of protected land that stores water, filters sediment and excess nutrients and provides wildlife habitat.

This tract, colloquially referred to as the Carroll T. Cox Addition, has been donated to IDNR so that it can be stewarded as part of the larger Chauncey Marsh State Natural Area. Funding for this purchase was made possible by the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.

Tackling Climate Change

Federal and Local Climate Legislation Touching Down in Illinois

What we do between now and 2030 will determine whether we can slow warming enough to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. That’s why TNC is working with government officials to advance policies that grow clean energy, boost energy efficiency and electrify the transportation sector. In 2022, lawmakers passed bills at both the state and federal level that will play a significant role in tackling climate change in Illinois—and across the country.

At the federal level, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a landmark law that sets the country on the path to reducing carbon emissions by roughly 40% by 2030. This law includes major investments in clean energy, with an emphasis on incentivizing domestic energy production. Green energy projects and programs already underway in Illinois are ready to receive funding from the IRA. IRA funding will also boost investment in climate-smart agriculture on working farmlands by authorizing $19.5 billion nationwide in conservation programs that pay farmers to adopt sustainable methods, such as cover crops. These programs are popular and already being used by many Illinois farmers, so funding from IRA stands to help scale up the number of acres farmed with sustainable practices.

In addition to federal policy, Illinois passed the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act in September 2021, which puts the state on a path to 50% renewable energy by 2040. As a member of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition—made up of environmental, labor, health, faith and other community-based organizations—TNC advocated for the law’s passage and is now helping to implement it. The legislation primes Illinois for a rapid buildout of renewable energy. To facilitate a smooth and durable clean energy transition, TNC is working to ensure that new energy infrastructure is located and built in a way that minimizes harm and maximizes benefits for nature. The following two programs are examples of these efforts.

Mining the Sun

TNC’s Mining the Sun program, which was developed in Nevada and West Virginia, works to unlock the clean energy potential of degraded lands by repurposing mine lands and brownfields as sites for solar panels. Prioritizing these lands for renewable energy can ease pressure on natural areas and prime farmland while also benefiting local communities. Owing to a long history of coal mining and industrial development, Illinois contains significant degraded land with potential suitability for clean energy. To move this program forward in the Prairie State, TNC completed a policy analysis in 2022 to identify promising pathways forward to unlock this potential. Looking ahead, TNC will work with key partners to further assess the opportunity, work through barriers and identify lands with the most potential for demonstration projects.

Greening the Clean Energy Transition

The transition to renewable energy, including solar, is critical for people and nature. But not all solar installations employ best practices to maximize potential environmental and social benefits. To leverage new solar energy for the biggest conservation impact, TNC has developed guidance for integrating pollinator-friendly habitat in and around solar panels. In Illinois, where significant expanses of natural landscapes have been lost to development, planting beneficial vegetation alongside solar can provide habitat for pollinator species, such as the iconic monarch butterfly. In addition to supporting biodiversity, co-locating pollinator-friendly habitat in solar installations can improve soil health, water quality and carbon storage potential. TNC’s guide to smart siting and pollinator-friendly solar energy in Illinois reviews key considerations for site assessment, design, preparation, habitat installation and management, and provides recommended seed mixes for different soil types and solar panel mounting heights.

Science & Research

Research Reaching Across Borders

From the vibrant tallgrass prairies of Nachusa Grasslands, to the lush, restored wetlands of Emiquon, to the urban habitats of Indian Boundary Prairies, to the fertile farmlands of central Illinois, TNC and partner organizations are conducting research that will help us better understand our natural areas—and how we can protect them for tomorrow. Here’s a look at some of TNC’s research projects in 2022.

Casting New Light on Grazing Behavior

A recent study conducted at Nachusa Grasslands was published by the respected journal Ecology. The study focused on nighttime feeding patterns of rodents in areas where bison graze. On nights with full moons, small rodents are more detectable to predators like owls and bobcats, so they tend to be least active during that time. The research teams were surprised to learn that, in the places where bison grazing reduces vegetation cover, deer mouse activity was four times lower on full moon nights compared to areas with no bison grazing. In contrast, prairie voles were twice as active in bison-grazed areas under full moons, but they shifted their foraging behavior to before moonrise or after moonset.

© Chris Helzer/TNC; © Charles Larry

This type of insight helps TNC staff understand how bison grazing affects the prairie, allowing them to better understand the full ecosystem impact of the bison. In addition to the publication of this research, the lead author, Pete Guiden, PhD, from Hamilton College, presented at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, the world’s largest professional organization of ecologists, in August 2022.

Connecting the Dots at Emiquon

In 2016, TNC completed the construction of a water control structure at Emiquon that reconnected the floodplain to the Illinois River. In addition to improving habitat connectivity, the structure provides researchers with opportunities to better understand how to incorporate water level management into floodplain restoration—and how these water exchanges can benefit people and nature.

In 2022, ongoing research examined new impacts of the water control structure. TNC researchers studied how much zooplankton and algae—essential food sources for riverine mussels and fish—Emiquon contributes to the river during seasonal water

exchanges. The data they gathered support the importance of floodplain wetland-to-river reconnections, as Emiquon produces more zooplankton and algae than what is typically found in the river. Researchers also assessed how water level affects seed production—important for growing the plants that feed migrating waterfowl—as well as how it impacts aquatic vegetation and nesting bird reproduction.

Researching Agriculture on the Mackinaw River

For 20 years, TNC has been working with the agricultural community in the Mackinaw River watershed to implement and monitor the effectiveness of sustainable agricultural practices. This watershed was selected as a priority site because of its diversity of fish and mussel species, high-quality tributary streams and habitats that support native and migratory wildlife.

After working with partners and landowners to construct more than 20 wetlands on private agricultural lands in the watershed, TNC shared its research and learnings in a book chapter published by the Soil and Water Conservation Society.

Additionally, a 12-year study was recently published in the Journal of Environmental Quality that focused on the effectiveness of constructed wetlands to reduce the amount of excess nitrogen and phosphorus that entered nearby rivers and streams.

Now, in the interest of scaling up watershed conservation in the Mackinaw River and coordinating conservation efforts with partners across the watershed, TNC researchers are developing a Mackinaw River Watershed Greenprint. Once completed, this online tool could be used to document conservation in the watershed in real time, facilitate coordination and prioritization of conservation efforts, identify new partnership and funding opportunities and ensure that areas of high biodiversity are protected.

Studying Stormwater at Indian Boundary Prairies

At TNC’s Indian Boundary Prairies (IBP)—a cluster of five grassland preserves in Markham, Illinois, that are co-owned and collaboratively managed with Northeastern Illinois University—researchers from TNC and Northwestern University are working with local communities and state-of-the-art technology to understand how these natural habitats can help mitigate damaging flooding.

In 2016, researchers began installing sensor nodes at IBP that measure conditions including soil moisture and rain water levels. Data led them to narrow their focus on specific areas for further attention. In 2022, their sights turned toward IBP’s “prairie edges.” These strips of habitat run along the boundary of each preserve and have been impacted by nearby roads, potentially making them challenging to restore due to metal and salt exposure. Despite that limitation, these edge areas can serve an important role in capturing and collecting stormwater.

While the data from the sensors will help the team understand the relationship between stormwater runoff and the preserves, researchers are also looking to another key piece of information in 2022: community dialogue. Through outreach and a survey, TNC is working to understand the needs of nearby residents to inform conservation and stewardship efforts in the future.

Meet the Team

The Nature Conservancy’s success in Illinois is made possible by the leadership of our Board of Trustees, the commitment of every donor, the diverse talents of our staff, the hard work of volunteers and the collaborative spirit of partners.

Board of Trustees

William M. Miller, PhD, Chair

Mamadou-Abou Sarr, Vice Chair

Rebecca Gerchenson, Treasurer

Yvonne Bruce

Luis Gutierrez

Kunal Kapoor

Lydia Link

Ian McCutcheon

Brad McMillan

Pin Ni

Ann Suker Potter

Shari Rogge-Fidler

Alison Taylor

Matthew Walker

Karen Weigert

Donald J. Wuebbles, PhD

Trustees Emeriti

Philip D. Block IV

Lynne Dinzole

Lynn B. Donaldson

Peter H. Fenner

Christopher D. Gould

Elisha Gray

Ted Haffner

Ronald S. Levin

Ethan Meers

Richard E. Sparks, PhD

David L. Thomas, PhD

M. Jay Trees

Life Trustees

Harry Drucker

Constance T. Keller

Wendy J. Paulson

Brenda Shapiro

Nancy Hamill Winter

State Director

Michelle Carr

International Headquarters

Arlington, Virginia 703.841.5300

Staff List

Elizabeth Bach

Megan Baskerville

Makenna Baxter

Vivian Bennett

Jason Beverlin

Doug Blodgett

Kate Borghgraef

Bridget Brassil

Eric Bugvilionis

Alex Burden

Tomoko Busha

Danielle Cafin

Rachel Caraher

Michelle Carr

Allison Cisneros

Cody Considine

Alice Coyne

Elyssa Davis

Jessica Donvito

Molly Duncan

Kaille Farrell

Wright Gatewood

Georgie Geraghty

Karl Gnaedinger

Darius Goldsby

Kathryn Gorman

Caleb Grantham

Sarah Hagen

Kaitlin Harrison

Heather Hartman

Tharran Hobson

Bryan Hopkins

Dee Hudson

Jennifer Jenkins

Mark Jones

Sarah Kaliski-Roll

Krista Kirkham

Bill Kleiman

Aaron Lange

John Legge

Maria Lemke

Rob Littiken

Romayne Luna

Adrienne Marino

Ashley Maybanks

Sally McClure

Kenneth Modzelewski

Kevin Moore

Matthew Mulligan

Philip Nagorny

Wanda Neely

Denim Perry

Karen Petersen

Emilie Pfeiffer

Frank Rademacher

Ellicia Sanchez

Carolyn Scholz

Randolph Smith

Nathan Speagle

Brooke Thurau

Shane Tripp

Kadee Tseitlin

Gabriela Valle-Martinez

Lucas Vereline

Jeff Walk

Sheldin Wilks

Debra Williams

Carter Wyatt

Rodolfo Zuniga Villegas