Restoring Grasslands

Restoring grasslands could increase the amount of carbon stored in Illinois ecosystems.
Restoring grasslands can help reach the goal of conserving 30% of nature in the state. If all of the historic grasslands were restored and protected, Illinois would exceed the goal of conserving 30 x 30.

Conserving, restoring and creating grasslands will help meet the goal of conserving 30% of nature by 2030. Grasslands also sequester carbon, while providing wildlife habitat, filtering air and water, and offering opportunities for people to enjoy nature.

We have developed several “What if….” scenarios to help imagine and compare different scenarios for the future. These scenarios include restoring natural areas (forests, grasslands and wetlands) and creating buffers along rivers and roads. These are not intended as recommendations for policies or management; similarly, the analysis does not recommend or prioritize any specific sites for restoration.

We analyzed the current extent of grassland in Illinois using landcover data from the US Geological Survey. We estimated the amount of carbon stored in grasslands by multiplying a carbon sequestration factor to the grassland acreage.

Impact of Restoring Grasslands

Restoring and conserving all of the historic grasslands can add many acres of conservation land, exceeding the goal of conserving 30% of land in Illinois. Even restoring 30% of the historic grasslands would make a big contribution.

Visualizing Grassland Restoration

Explore the map below to compare historic grassland areas with current landscapes.

Map: Restoring Grasslands. This map shows the location of historic and current grasslands . Explore the impact of restoring forests by clicking on a county to see more detailed data. Using the map tools, you may pan, zoom, and turn layers on and off.

The landcover data shown in this map comes from 2016 National Land Cover Database, provided by the US Geological Survey (https://www.mrlc.gov/data/nlcd-2016-land-cover-conus). Carbon sequestration values of forest, wetland, grassland, and farmland were acquired from a USGS baseline survey of carbon storage (Zhu and Reed, 2014, https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1804).