Nonprofit restores prairie, bison grazing at Illinois' Nachusa Grasslands

CBS News

23-05-2025

Drive two hours west of the Loop, and pristine prairie will appear.
The Nachusa Grasslands are located in Lee and Ogle counties, 3 miles northwest of the town of Franklin Grove. The Nature Conservancy replanted and restored the prairie, and the nonprofit also manages the Nachusa Grasslands and the animals that graze there.
Behind the gates to the prairie is a piece of the past.
"There's really only a few thousand acres of tallgrass prairie like this left in Illinois," said research scientist Elizabeth Bach.
But when Bach rolls over rolling hills of the Nachusa Grasslands in a sport-utility vehicle, she sees the future.
"And that future is built on the foundations of our past," she said.
That foundation is one where the prairie flourished, and buffalo roamed.
At the Nachusa Grasslands, there are more than 4,000 acres of restored tallgrass prairie — and one herd of bison.
"Grazing is something, especially from bison, that's been absent from this state of Illinois since the 1870s," Bach said.
But in the 2014, the Nature Conservancy — a global environmental nonprofit — brought bison back.
"The bison at Nachusa Grasslands have access to 1500 acres," said Bach.
As a research scientist, Bach studies how the herd of about 100 bison impacts the prairie.
"This is the best part of my job, is to get to be out here, and I look at these plants every year," Bach said.
Every spring, as calves are born and flowers bloom, Bach checks on plots and areas where bison graze — and where they don't.
"We can track how the plant community without grazing compares to the plant community with grazing," Bach said.
Bach sees a noticeable difference.
"Areas where the bison are grazing heavily will keep a shorter structure for the grasses and plants there, and that's a good thing for certain types of birds and insects and small mammals and reptiles," she said.
Just by grazing and wallowing — the behavior where they roll around on their backs — the big mammals create microhabitats.
"We are seeing changes in the abundance of certain insects like ground beetles and dung beetles," said Bach.
And when the bison share their winter coats, their fur helps birds build their homes.
"To keep those baby birds warm on these cold spring nights," Bach said.
At the Nachusa Grasslands, the buffalo roam — and restore.
"What we're really trying to do is to set up these native Illinois plants and animals for success into the future," Bach said.
The Nature Conservancy keeps the herd to about 100 bison. They transfer surplus animals to the Intertribal Buffalo Council, whose mission is to restore buffalo to tribal lands.