The Natural Land Institute closed this month on 149 acres surrounding its 4-acre Beach Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve in Davis Junction, Illinois.
According to a news release, NLI says Beach Cemetery Prairie contains some of the finest remnant prairie remaining in Illinois and provides a small habitat for endangered plant species.
Less than one-tenth of 1% of Illinois' former 22 million acres of prairie remain.
The release says the site also protects the historic settler cemetery, including graves of the Beach family buried in the 1850s.
NLI purchased the Ogle County land using funds from the sale of 80 acres of prime farmland that had been donated to the organization in 2025. The donors stipulated that the land could be sold, with proceeds used to protect other land NLI otherwise could not protect.
Additional donor gifts filled the remaining funding needed to complete the Ogle County purchase.
Restoration of the remnant non-tilled areas will begin immediately, with priority given to the remnant prairie. NLI is developing plans for most of the farmland to remain working land with regenerative agricultural practices. Fields may eventually be converted to native prairie seed production or grazing lands to provide habitat for grassland birds.
The property is otherwise closed to the public until further notice.
Copy Edited by Eryn Lent