STATE HOME | Contact | Activities | Archive

State Profile

The Prairie State is a gentle landscape, blessed with abundant water, rare and beautiful plants and animals, and some of the finest topsoil in the world. If you know where to look, Illinois has scenic wonders—oak savannas, hardwood forests, tallgrass prairies, creeks, meadows, and spectacular frontage on Lake Michigan.

Our natural wonders include the Shawnee National Forest and its spectacular Garden of the Gods, seven national wildlife refuges, the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area, Volo Bog, and Chicago Wilderness, one of the most expansive systems of protected open space in any major urban area in the country.

The settlers who came here in the 19th century found a natural paradise: endless seas of grass higher than a man's head and the deep, fertile soils that their decomposition had created over thousands of years; abundant songbirds, game, pollinators, and predators; bird-filled marshes and clean, free-flowing rivers; savannas carpeted with wildflowers under wide-spreading burr oaks; and dense forests of oak and hickory like those the settlers had known in the East.

Human settlement, agricultural development, and industrialization have altered much of Illinois' landscape. Protecting our state's remaining natural areas, keeping air and water clean, and fostering development of our state's abundant clean energy resources are high priorities for REP members in Illinois.

STATE HOME | Contact | Activities | Archive