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.