A study found a Wisconsin program that pays producers for measured reductions in phosphorus runoff was more cost-effective than a popular federal conservation program.
A federal program promises to pay for farmland preservation. Few landowners are taking advantage.
A decade ago, a federal task force announced a plan to help monarch butterflies along their great migration. The six-state effort along Interstate 35 didn’t take off as expected, but some roadsides are blooming anyway.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service lost nearly a quarter of its staff nationwide in 2025 after the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal government. Many were local experts that help farmers with soil and water conservation efforts.
The Trump administration cut 22% of the Natural Resources Conservation Service staff in 2025, impacting nearly half of Illinois counties.
These ranchers tried to protect grassland from trees and shrubs in all the traditional ways. It didn’t work. So they brought in hungry goats that turned woody plants into a cash stream.
Corn Belt farmers are in the midst of multiple crises.
The Farm, Food, and National Security Act, includes provisions impacting agriculture, including crop protection tools, livestock policy, and risk management programs.
University of Illinois researchers analyzed traces of DNA in rivers and streams to learn how strips of trees near water — called riparian buffers — impact land species.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates millions of lesser prairie chickens may have once scurried across a range of almost 100 million acres across the Great Plains. Today, scientists estimate there are only about 27,000 left in five states – Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Colorado.
A new law in Illinois formalizes efforts to reintroduce native keystone species like bison and beavers in the state, which advocates say will help other species recover.
AmeriCorps members were working on environmental education and habitat restoration at parks and nature centers in rural areas across the country. Now federal cuts have eliminated many of those positions.
A case in federal court aims to dismantle a decades-old wetlands law, best known for its nickname.
The Midwest has seen an incredible loss of native prairies and wetlands over the past few centuries. The changes have been driven primarily by farming and urban sprawl. But in east-central Illinois, several initiatives aim to bring back native ecosystems.
