Mackinaw River Watershed Management Plan 1998

This is a Mackinaw Watershed plan developed for everyone who lives in the watershed, as well as local governments and state and federal agencies who will help them achieve the goal of protecting the river and the land surrounding it. The persistent sediment is affecting the wildlife and biological diversity… Continue reading

Lake Bloomington Watershed Plan

This is a management plan working to improve the water quality and stop pollution and chemicals from entering Lake Bloomington. It provides studies done testing the levels of chemical pollutants, sources of pollution, effects on wildlife, and possible solutions to these detrimental issues.  

Evergreen Lake Watershed Plan

This is a management plan to protect and improve the water quality of Evergreen Lake. Background information on the problems of pollution and runoff influencing is provided. Possible ideas to improve the situation of the water are given along with plans of implementation. It gives an overall action plan to… Continue reading

The Importance of Protecting Vulnerable Streams and Wetlands at the Local Level

This article makes the case for expanded state and local protection of vulnerable streams and wetlands. Vulnerable streams and wetlands include the very smallest streams and wetlands that do not have a permanent surface water connection to larger waterbodies, yet are still vital parts of the ecosystem. Headwater streams and… Continue reading

Forest Conservation and Management

Forests in our agricultural or urbanized landscapes areespecially vulnerable to degradation. Since 1997, the CTAP biological monitoring program has systematically studied Illinois’ forests. This brochure summarizes the best scienceand data available regarding four major aspects of forest conservation and management.  Forest Conservation and Management

Conservation Design Resource Manual

The goal of this Resource manual is to provide ample information about conservation design principles and practices, and to provide the necessary language to enable communities to implement conservation design at varying levels. The document is structured by practice, so that communities new to conservation design can begin with cautious… Continue reading

Guidance for Developing Watershed Action Plans in Illinois

This manual presents an approach to watershed-based planning designed to ensure that local stakeholders play a central role in the development of comprehensive, multi-issue watershed plans. A watershed approach to planning for and managing land and water resources is not a new idea. The USEPA argues that groups working within… Continue reading

Illinois’ Forest Resourcs (2005)

A complete annual inventory consists of measurements and data compiled and reported for all plots in all five panels. Once all panels have been measured and the inventory is complete, a new inventory will begin and one panel of plots will be remeasured every year on a 5-year cycle. This… Continue reading

Ecological Principles and Guidelines for Managing the Use of Land

The five ecological principles deal with time, species, place, disturbance ,and the landscape. These principles dictate several guidelines for land use. These guidelines suggest that land managers should examine impacts of local decisions in a regional context, plan for long-term change and unexpected events, preserve rare landscape elements and associated… Continue reading

IL River Basin Comprehensive Plan

This Comprehensive Plan provides the vision, goals, objectives, desired future, and identifies the preferred alternative plan to restore the ecological integrity of the Illinois River Basin System. This plan documents the need for and potential scope of four components: a restoration program; a long-term resource monitoring program; a computerized inventory… Continue reading