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here. In 2000, they had the chance to purchase land for what would become their largest preserve; they found the chance to partner with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who manage the nearby 3,000-acre Emiquon National Refuge; to partner with the Dickson Mounds Museum who tell the story of the area’s human and natural history; to partner with the University of Illinois Springfield, which opened the Therkildsen Field Station in 2008, as well as the Illinois Natural History Survey, which has continued to do important work since Forbes’ day. Together they would have the opportunity to undertake a restoration that could be – that would become – a model for similar projects around the world.

It has been an amazing collaborative effort, but Leslee Spraggins, state director of The Nature Conservancy, wants people to be clear that the Emiquon Preserve is not owned by the government. “People have been confused. They think this is a government place, but it is not,” she states. While the U.S. Wildlife Service’s 3,000-acre Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge is located next door, she notes it is primarily private money – $18 million from The Nature Conservancy alone – that has funded the Emiquon Preserve, with Caterpillar a vital partner. However, she is quick to acknowledge that government entities have assisted them. They have received assistance through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wetland Reserve Easement Program, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has provided help with planning and management. In addition, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has assisted in restocking Thompson Lake’s waters.

Although native plants that have lain dormant beneath the ground for eight decades are re-emerging naturally since the return of the water, the restoration of fish to Thompson Lake would take human intervention. The Conservancy signed a cooperative fisheries management agreement with IDNR in 2007, and as a result nearly 2 million fish were stocked in Emiquon’s waters with many species not available from hatcheries. “DNR helped us put in native fish here that you just can’t go out and buy anywhere,” states Spraggins.

Emiquon now has 5,800 acres of wetlands, but additional adjacent restoration has taken place, with 200 acres of wet prairie and 400 acres of upland prairie being restored. Dr. Michael Wiant, director of the Dickson Mounds Museum states: “At the end of the day, if you take Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge, and the Emiquon Preserve, you are talking about roughly 14,000 acres of Illinois River Valley which will be restored into habitat that will promote the betterment of a whole variety of species.”