Illinois begins $15M restoration of 794 acres at Dutch Gap Preserve

A major ecological change is beginning in northern Illinois, where conservation officials are reversing more than a century of farming changes to restore nearly 800 acres of natural land. The $15 million restoration project at Dutch Gap Forest Preserve in Antioch will remove major farm drainage systems, restore natural water flows and bring back wetlands, streams, prairies and savannas across the 794-acre site. According to a news release from the Lake County Forest Preserve District, the goal is to return the damaged land to a self-sustaining natural state after generations of heavy farming.Undoing a century of agricultural drainageYears of farming greatly changed the water system and plant life at the Dutch Gap site.