60 years ago this year, Illinois led the nation, even the world, in creating an ambitious and collaborative model for protecting our remaining natural areas. The Illinois Nature Preserves System is a visionary model that many other states have followed.
But what even is a Nature Preserve? What makes a Nature Preserve special?
Illinois recognized the plight of our natural areas sooner than most states. Unlike areas east that had already been transformed, there were still high quality remnant natural areas remaining – unplowed, unpaved, with the biodiversity still remaining in the plants, the soil, and the fungi. Out of this realization the Natural Areas Preservation Act was passed in 1963.
I don’t read a lot of IL state laws for inspiration. But no matter how often I read it, The Natural Areas Preservation act still moves me. A particular part that inspires is this:
“Natural lands and waters together with the plants and animals living thereon in natural communities are a part of the heritage of the people. They are of value for scientific research, for teaching, as reservoirs of natural materials not all of the potential uses of which are now known, as habitats for rare and vanishing species, as places of historic and natural interest and scenic beauty and as living museums of the native landscape wherein one may envision and experience primeval conditions in a wilderness-like environment.”
Do you feel the passion with which this was written? Do you start to glimpse what makes our Illinois Nature Preserves so special?
Their most important use is to be preserved for their quality as a natural area —For us now and for generations to come.
I'm Amy Doll. and that's my perspective.
