Illinois is striving to preserve and protect its last few wild places — even, occasionally, returning farmland to Nature. The Illinois River Valley and the Cache River Basin are two areas of the state rich in habitat and in various stages of restoration, regeneration
but overture to the symphony expected at Emiquon near Havana. The 7,100 acres in Fulton County will be turned from farmland to wetland, edged by upland prairie, blufftop savanna and bottomland forest. The conservancy’s scientists will help the process by planting trees and seeds, in some cases reintroducing native Illinois species. Ecologists will use the latest science and technology to record the changes in this large-scale restoration, which will function as a model for other floodplain restorations throughout the world.
or preservation. Scientists, students and citizens with a passion for the natural world have been playing a part in their renewal. The Nature Conservancy, working with state and federal
agencies, is restoring the vast floodplains along the Illinois River. It has transformed Spunky Bottoms in Brown County into a thriving wetland landscape, including a replanted bottomland hardwood forest and a reseeded upland prairie. Once drained and farmed, the 2,026-acre site now is home to one of the most abundant populations of northern cricket frogs in the state. In the spring, more than 16,000 waterfowl rest and eat in its waters during migration. Uncommon species such as river otters and American bitterns also call it home.
![Wetland grass emerges from standing water at Emiquon.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/63ee0eb/2147483647/strip/true/crop/384x269+0+0/resize/880x616!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.03.53_PM.png)
Unique to Illinois, though, is a companion project led by a team at the Illinois Natural History Survey. In the spirit of the Lewis and Clark exploration, entomologist Mike Jeffords enlisted 45 citizens to be an Emiquon Corps of Discovery. Trained in photography, descriptive writing, poetry, drawing and painting, they record their observations to create a “total aesthetic picture” of Emiquon as it regenerates. Each year’s work is displayed at Dickson Mounds Museum. This year, a second, 29-member Cache River Corps
of Discovery is artistically documenting that biological diversity.
![A migrating egret forages for food at Emiquon.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/952340c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/388x269+0+0/resize/880x610!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.04.52_PM.png)
But Spunky Bottoms and similar restorations at Lake Chautauqua and Hennepin-Hopper Lakes are
The Editors
![Moonrise over Spunky Bottoms inspires a chorus of animal songs.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/da9dcaf/2147483647/strip/true/crop/575x739+0+0/resize/880x1131!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.06.01_PM.png)
![A UIS student holds a bryozoan living in the LaGrange refuge waters.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6782e52/2147483647/strip/true/crop/389x266+0+0/resize/880x602!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.06.58_PM.png)
![Citizen scientist Margaret Ovitt with the Emiquon Corps of Discovery recorded observations during restoration.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1b12c36/2147483647/strip/true/crop/398x225+0+0/resize/880x497!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.07.38_PM.png)
![Sunset over an Emiquon backwater near Dickson Mounds highlights the potential of the 7,100-acre preserve to return to its natural state.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e1a63a8/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1179x773+0+0/resize/880x577!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.08.50_PM.png)
![Emiquon backwater plants glow at sunrise.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f4d5cc9/2147483647/strip/true/crop/482x334+0+0/resize/880x610!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.10.19_PM.png)
![A red-tailed hawk keeps an eye on intruders at Emiquon.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c008f87/2147483647/strip/true/crop/479x327+0+0/resize/880x601!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.11.04_PM.png)
![As the pumps fall silent in the cornfields, the waters of Emiquon rise, illustrating the ease of conversion.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7aacbdd/2147483647/strip/true/crop/476x775+0+0/resize/880x1433!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.12.03_PM.png)
![Canada geese take flight from Emiquon.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/044d65f/2147483647/strip/true/crop/403x263+0+0/resize/880x574!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.12.49_PM.png)
![Three pairs of Canada geese feed in the shallow water.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1242da7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/571x370+0+0/resize/880x570!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.13.34_PM.png)
![Last fall, as water filled the fields at Emiquon, thousands of waterfowl stopped to rest and feed.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/183e0e4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/484x765+0+0/resize/880x1391!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.14.34_PM.png)
![Russell Clendenin, Rend Lake Community College instructors and Cache River Corps of Discovery member, captured the colors of these water plants near the Barkhausen Wetlands Center in Johnson County.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/b2ba161/2147483647/strip/true/crop/391x255+0+0/resize/880x574!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.16.50_PM.png)
![A fleet of ducks sail effortlessly in a drainage ditch, created for previous farming operations.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1f8a8b1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/480x768+0+0/resize/880x1408!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.18.19_PM.png)
![Emiquon Corps of Discovery sketch artist Margaret Ovitt notes animal behavior.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/20f36ab/2147483647/strip/true/crop/696x255+0+0/resize/880x322!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.20.42_PM.png)
![Jan Sundberg, a Cache River Corps of Discovery photographer, catches a toad resting on leaves.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/af7cf06/2147483647/strip/true/crop/352x255+0+0/resize/880x638!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwuis%2Ffiles%2F201503%2FScreen_Shot_2015-03-11_at_12.21.35_PM.png)
ADVICE
Poem by Deane Doolen Emiquon Corps of Discovery
E NJOY the
M AJESTY and
I NSPIRATION and
Q UINTESSENCE of this
U NIQUE
O BSERVATION of
N ATURE