"All that summer Miss Rumphius, her pockets full of seeds, wandered over fields..."
- from Barbara Cooney's Miss Rumphius

We are learning to recognize prairie patches as remants of Illinois' wild prairie. Some patches have persisted around railroad tracks, roadsides, cemeteries, hilltops, and farmfields. Preserving and restoring prairies can be done on many scales-- in schoolyards, along roadsides, and in large state preserves.  
 

Mighty Acorns at Midewin NTP

In Milford, Illinois school children plant and care for a prairie garden. At Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie near Joliet, Illinois, hundreds of volunteers gather each spring to plant seeds. Goose Lake Prairie Preserve staff teach children and adults the importance of stewardship. Stewardship means caring for and nurturing natural habitats. 

When we restore a prairie, we raise not only wild grasses and flowers. We provide habitat for hawks, voles, gophers and many other animals. We are restoring a healthy ecosystem.