Illinois Public Media’s State of Change 2025 looks at efforts to retain existing prairie in Illinois, as well as strategies to restore some areas to a more natural state. According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, in the nineteenth century, Illinois was covered in 22-million acres of grassland.
By 1978, less than 2,300 acres remained. Emmy winning host and producer Tinisha Spain hosted this year’s State of Change from the Loda Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve in Iroquois County, Illinois. Other than mowing, the land has not been cultivated and is one of the few places you can still find the original tallgrass prairie in Illinois.
The production team also traveled to the Nachusa Grasslands in Lee County, where wild bison roam. They learned how bison and fires naturally restore and maintain the tallgrass prairie. Spain talked to University of Illinois professor of history Rosalyn LaPier about bison, the prairie, and Indigenous communities in Illinois.
State of Change 2025 airs Thursday, November 13 at 7:00 p.m. on WILL-TV. It will also be available on the Illinois Public Media YouTube Channel and the PBS App. Production funding for the program is provided by the Backlund Charitable Trust.