Prospect Heights Natural Resources Commission

July 9th, 2025 - 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

Live and In-Person, Bill Glass"How a Bird Saved the Prairie"

This is the story of how the upland sandpiper, a grassland bird helped protect 20,000 acres of open space that will become a large mosaic of prairie, wetlands and scattered woodlands 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. The land was the former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant that closed in the early 1990’s. The presence of this state-endangered grassland bird was instrumental in protecting the land and the creation of Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie which is managed by the USDA Forest Service.

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All programs take place at the Prospect Heights Public Library's AB meeting room and on Zoom. Talks start promptly at 7:00. Nature Speaks is free admission but registration is necessary.

We’ll also take a look at the prairie restoration efforts at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. Adaptive restoration techniques were used to restore the habitats of this highly modified landscape. Left-over infrastructure from the Army made restoration challenging. Restoration goals were to restore the tallgrass prairie ecosystem and maintain the populations of rare plants and animals that were originally found on the area, and provide habitat for plants and animals that could be re-introduced to the area.

Upland Sandpiper- Photo Bill Glass

Poland - Photo Mat Larkin

Finally, bison were re-introduced to the area. It’s hoped that these selective grazers will ultimately maintain the tallgrass prairie like they did hundreds of years ago. This project has been a collaborative project between governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations and volunteers. Restoration work will have to continue for years to come, but ultimately, it’s hoped a large piece of the tallgrass prairie will exist to allow visitors to see what the tallgrass prairie was like prior to being lost through development and agriculture.

Sand Ridge Restoration - Photo Bill Glass

South Patrol Road  Prairie Restoration - Photo Gary Sullivan

Admission is free of charge but you must register for in-person or zoom viewing. This program will be recorded for distribution at a later date. Registration opens June 20th, 2025

Bill Glass is a retired restoration ecologist who is especially interested in restoration of the tallgrass prairie. He got his master’s degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he studied approximately 100 prairie remnants in Iowa. He worked with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources as a Natural Heritage Biologist. He managed state-owned prairie, wetlands and woodlands in a multi-county area and worked with rare plants and animals. He finished his career with the USDA Forest Service as the ecologist at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.

This was his dream job restoring a large tallgrass prairie.