One of the key initiatives of Chicago Wilderness Alliance is to restore the health of local nature, using our Biodiversity Recovery Plan as our guide. Many Chicago Wilderness Alliance natural resource managers have led the way in ecological restoration, using science and on-the-ground experience to develop best practices.

Excellence in Ecological Restoration Program (EERP) is a voluntary comprehensive accreditation process. Its purpose is to establish best management practices, which will improve ecological restoration management efforts in the four-state Chicago Wilderness Alliance region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin) and across the nation.

2025 EERP Accreditations Announced!

Download full press release of the 2025 Excellence in Ecological Restoration Program accreditations and Force of Nature Awards. 

It was a record-breaking year for nominations and awards granted this year.

“Communities across the country are facing unprecedented challenges, so it’s more important than ever to find hope and strength in collective action,” says Elizabeth Kessler, chair of the Chicago Wilderness Alliance and executive director of the McHenry County Conservation District. “The individuals and sites recognized this year remind us that optimism and collaboration remain powerful forces. Their work is not only inspiring—it’s a blueprint for how we can continue to come together to protect what matters most and build a more resilient future.” 

Please join us at the Celebration of Conservation on October 22 to recognize our 2025 Excellence in Ecological Restoration Program accreditations and Force of Nature Awards. 

Join the growing list of sponsors who make this wonderful event happen. 

2025 EERP Accreditations

Blackwell & St. James Farm Forest Preserves – Forest Preserve District of DuPage County – Platinum
Blackwell and St. James Farm Forest Preserves serve as critical habitat for endangered wildlife and are home to the Urban Stream Research Center. A transformative restoration revitalized the impaired Spring Brook #1. This collaborative project corrected historic channelization by re meandering the stream, reconnecting it to its floodplain, and removing a dam to restore aquatic passage. Ecological restoration restored remnant woodlands and re-established wetland and prairie plant communities. The result is significant stream water quality and habitat improvements, creation of vital habitat supporting over 700 native plant species, over 1,000 native species in total, including threatened and endangered species and imperilled suites of species like native mussels and fish, enhanced flood resilience, and improved public access. This project serves as a leading example of successful, science-based urban stream ecosystem recovery. 

Busse Forest Nature Preserve – Forest Preserves of Cook County – Platinum
Busse Forest Nature Preserve is the seventh largest nature preserve in the state of Illinois. The preserve protects a mosaic of remnant mesic upland forest, mesic woodland, dry-mesic 
woodland, northern flatwoods, shrub swamp, sedge meadow, and freshwater marsh. Also present are areas of unassociated woody vegetation and reforestation. The preserve is located at the toe of the Tinley moraine, where it meets the terrace of Salt Creek. Subtle changes in topography and soils foster an intermingling of natural communities and create a hotspot of biological diversity, including over 270 native plant species, including several state-listed species. 

Grassy Lake Forest Preserve – Lake County Forest Preserves – Platinum
Grassy Lake Forest Preserve protects 691 acres of oak woodlands, prairies, wetlands, and successional habitat, near the town of Barrington. Important natural features are known from this Preserve and include the state dedicated Wagner Fen Nature Preserve, Fox River and Flint Creek watercourses, a glacial lake, remnant high-quality sedge meadow and wet prairie communities, and >20 years of exemplary volunteer stewardship-led restoration achievements of the site's prairie, oak woodland and wetland communities. This Excellence In Ecological Restoration application nominates the most biological diverse 320-acre portion, where stewardship activities by dedicated volunteers, augmented by District staff and contractual support have improved and expanded habitat for many rare plants and animals, including 25 Species of Greatest Conservation Need noted by IDNR. Four state threatened plants species occur here, along with many regionally rare and conservative species. 

High Point Conservation Area – McHenry County Conservation District – Platinum
High Point Conservation Area is located in Alden Township in northern McHenry County. It is bordered by Wright Rd to the East, Hebron Rd to the north, Reese Rd to the West, and Oak Grove Rd to the south. High Point is located in the northeastern morainal division of Illinois. The site is located on the terminal moraine of the last glacial period where the Woodstock moraine (18-20,000 years before present YPB) overlaps the Marengo moraine (30,000 YPB). This gives High Point it's characteristic rolling topography with oak hickory woodlands and the highest glaciated point in Illinois. Between the rugged hills many kettles were formed and provide critical habitat for amphibians and invertebrates. Several headwater streams start their course at High Point and continue to flow and from one of the highest quality streams in the state, Nippersink Creek. Many intact stream side wetlands are found on the site as well. There are also over a hundred acres of restored prairie on the site. 

Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve – Forest Preserve District of Will County – Platinum
Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve (LPN) is a 320-acre preserve owned and managed by the Forest Preserve District of Will County (FPDWC). The preserve contains globally rare dolomite prairie that develop in shallow soils over dolomite bedrock. Within LPN, there is a complex assemblage of remnant dolomite prairie and groundwater-fed wetlands across the bottom of the Des Plaines River valley, bounded on the west by a steep, wooded bluff. The site supports two federally listed Endangered/Threated plant species – leafy prairie clover (Dalea foliosa) and lakeside daisy (Tetraneuris herbacea). The seep-fed rivulets provide larval habitat for the federally endangered Hine’s emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora hineana). The rare habitats also support 11 state-listed E/T plant species, the federally endangered Rusty Patched Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis), and two state-endangered turtles: Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) and the largest population of spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) in Illinois.

About the Excellence in Ecological Restoration Program (EERP)

In an effort to recognize high-quality restoration sites and develop professional standards of excellence in natural resource management and ecological restoration, a Chicago Wilderness Alliance working group developed the Excellence in Ecological Restoration Program (EERP). This accreditation program is administered by the Commission on Excellence in Ecological Restoration. 

WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO VIEW APPLYING FOR EERP ACCREDITATION AS A PROCESS THAT CAN SHOW IMPROVEMENT OVER TIME. Getting a Silver Accreditation in one cycle can be the inspiration to work toward a Gold or Platinum Accreditation in a future cycle. It also serves as an example for others seeking to improve their best management practices. 

Benefits of EERP Accreditation

Beyond restoring the ecological health of a site, EERP accreditation:

• Raises credibility for agencies and organizations restoring sites;
• Provides professional standards for both internal and external comparisons;
• Supports Chicago Wilderness Alliance initiatives;
• Demonstrates on-the-ground commitment to the Biodiversity Recovery Plan;
• Provides opportunity for self-assessment and continuous improvement through the
  application process;
• Educates staff and volunteers involved with the process;
• Provides recognition for excellence in management of natural communities and sites;
• Increases pride for work and builds confidence in managing sites for ecological health;
• Provides an opportunity for peer review, networking and education;
• Provides opportunity for updating and clarification of policies and procedures; and
• Ensures demonstrated practice is in alignment and on par with written policies and
  procedures.
  

Eligibility

The EERP is open to any organization or business, whether or not they are Chicago Wilderness Alliance partners. The map below shows the regional boundaries of the Alliance, encompassing 38 counties in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Projects from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin that are outside the Alliance's regional boundaries are welcome and encouraged to apply. Note that there is a mandatory application fee for all applicants, and an additional fee for applicants outside of the Alliance region. 

Application Fee 

• 2025 Application Fees
  • $100 for Chicago Wilderness Alliance partners
  • $300 for non-partners
  • $1,500 plus site site expenses for non-partners outside of the Chicago Wilderness Alliance Region or elsewhere in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin

Qualifications 

All nominated sites must meet the following requirements:

• Located in the Chicago Wilderness Alliance Region or elsewhere in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.
• Contain a natural area with a remnant resource and/or recreation resource that is more than 100 acres; 
• Owned, or otherwise protected, by a public agency or private organizations dedicated to preserving and protecting lands with significant natural resources;
• Actively managed for at least the last five years
• Have a management plan in place

2023 EERP Accreditations

2023 Force of Nature and Excellence in Ecological Restoration Programs press release (PDF)

2023 EERP Manual (PDF) 

Platinum

• Greenbelt Forest Preserve, Lake County Forest Preserves
  The subject parcels of Greenbelt Forest Preserve were acquired between 1971 and 1992. Since acquisition, restoration activities conducted by the Lake County Forest Preserve District sustain a diverse mosaic of habitats that are critical for rare plants and animals. Greenbelt Forest Preserve provides important greenspace to the municipalities of Waukegan and North Chicago. The restoration of Greenbelt Forest Preserve is innovative in that the site was restored as a complex with a diverse mosaic of habitats to address plants and wildlife that require environmental gradients and different habitats for different stages of their life cycles. This target in mind results in a preserve with greater connectivity and potential of harboring greater biodiversity. View a presentation on the formation of Greenbelt Forest Preserve and recording.

Gold

• Sand Ridge Savanna Nature Preserve, Forest Preserve District of Will County
  Sand Ridge Savanna (SRSP) is a 941-acre preserve that contains a 625-acre nature preserve and is adjacent to the 503-acre Vesely/ Wilmington Shrub Prairie State Natural Area. SRSP contains sandy, glacial lake bed with scattered, low, wind-blown dunes. This landscape supports ponds, marshes, wet to dry-mesic prairie, sedge meadow, sand flatwood, dry-mesic savanna, shrub prairie, button bush swamp and high-gradient creek. SRSP is a mosaic of remnant lands in a matrix of plowed and heavily disturbed land. Extensive restoration of agricultural fields has restored almost all of the agricultural lands to prairie. 

2021 EERP Accreditations

Download the press release announcing the 2021 Excellence in Environmental Restoration sites. 

Platinum

• Cranberry Slough Nature Preserve, Cook County, IL, Forest Preserves of Cook County

Cranberry Slough Nature Preserve is a 380-acre state-dedicated nature preserve that lies within the Northeastern Morainal Natural Division of Illinois and exemplifies the undulating topography of the Valparaiso  Moraine. The site is located on Mount Forest Island, a wedge-shaped region bordered by the Des Plaines River and Sag Valley, within the 14,000-acre Palos/Sag Valley Forest Preserve system that comprises the largest contiguous tract of FPCC holdings. The site includes remnant woodland, savanna, prairie, sedge meadow, and marsh natural communities. Restoration began at Cranberry Slough nearly 40 years ago, mainly led by volunteer stewards. The initial restoration was focused on an approximately 100-acre core of woodland and savanna. In 2015 the Forest Preserves initiated a major restoration project at Cranberry Slough to remove invasive brush across 240 acres, connecting the higher quality and previously restored portions of the preserve. From 2019-2021 selective tree removal has occurred across 56 targeted acres of the preserve. In 2018, FPCC completed a stream restoration project along a reach of Crooked Creek that flows through the nature preserve. The preserve has been regularly burned over the last 20 years and burn units have expanded as invasive brush has been removed. Ongoing maintenance of herbaceous invasive species continues on an annual basis. 

• Glacial Park, Ringwood, ILMcHenry County Conservation District

Glacial Park is the McHenry County Conservation District’s most popular site, visited annually by more than 64,000 guests who hike or ride horseback along eight miles of trails, fish the shoreline of Nippersink Creek, ride snowmobiles or ski in winter, or canoe-kayak the creek for more than six miles. The 3,500-acre park contains many spectacular glacial features, including kames, kettles, and rolling glacial moraine. Plant communities include a sphagnum bog and many marshes. fens, prairies, and remnant oak savannas. The park has been under ecological restoration management since 1985. Early restoration focused on brush removal from the oak savannas and prairie restoration in former ag-fields. By the 1990s, the resource management staff began extensive hydrological restoration, culminating in the re-meandering and bank grading on 3.5 miles of Nippersink Creek. More recently, the MCCD worked with the Army Corps to repair stream banks and install riffles on an additional 3.5  miles of stream. 

• Pine Dunes East, Antioch, IL, Lake County Forest Preserve District

The 316-acre site is buffered by the remaining ~639 acres of Pine Dunes Forest Preserve and nearly 2,500 acres of other Forest Preserve sites nearby. The entire site has been restored and under active management  since 2013. Prior to restoration efforts, the site was dominated by agriculture and structural integrity was lacking. After restoration, habitat structure has improved markedly; buckthorn and other woody invasive plants have been removed across the entire site, wooded areas have been thinned to increase sunlight to ground layer vegetation, wetlands have been re-hydrated by disabling drain tiles, and farmland has been replaced with native prairie/savanna species (including planting trees, primarily oaks). Restoration actions included woody invasive plant clearing, native seed/plant installation, reforestation, prescribed burning, herbaceous invasive plant control, and stream restoration. The stream at the south end of the property has been restored to connect to floodplain and a riffle/pool structure was created. Climate change has the potential to impact this and all sites in our region. The District is an active participant in CW and other climate workgroups and has initiated a climate-adapted seeding study at another site to investigate the potential future use of more southern seed sources at restoration sites.

Gold

• Braidwood Dunes Savanna and Nature Preserve, Reed Township, IL, Forest Preserve District of Will County
  Land acquisition began in 1980 and Braidwood Dunes and Savanna Nature Preserve (BDN) now covers 315 acres, providing valuable habitat for seventeen state listed species, 114 acres of Illinois Natural Area Inventory-quality land, 193 acres of Grade C natural land and 8 acres of degraded (grade D) land. The entirety of BDN is a dedicated Illinois Nature Preserve and is also an Illinois Natural Area Inventory Site. BDN is located between the Midewin/Des Plaines and Braidwood-Mazonia conservation areas, and is part of the: Prairie Parklands; Kankakee Sands COA and Midewin COA. It is a hub in the Green Infrastructure Network. Loss of structural integrity is pervasive. Grasslands and wetlands lost floral density due to nonnative grazers and thick duff layers from lack of fire. Savannas have only just been thinned to promote recovery of the groundlayer flora. Although badger and beaver are now onsite, the loss of elk and bison encourages woody species and grasses at the expense of forbs. Recent prescribed fire and overseeding promote recovery from past impacts, but overseeding could only be s tarted after woody thinning. Wind erosion was a greater threat to BDN than water erosion, but formerly plowed dunes are now stabilized and have not shifted significantly since the 1873 platte map was made. The Nature Conservancy cooperatively provides local, sand ecotype seed (rare and hard-to-find native seed) in exchange for labor.

• Deer Grove West Wetland and Woodland Nature Preserve, Forest Preserves of Cook County
  Rich remnant oak woodlands form the core of Deer Grove West Woodland and Wetland Nature Preserve in northwest Cook County. Numerous small wetlands dot the rolling, rugged terrain, and a tributary to Salt Creek runs through the preserve’s center. Biologists have recorded more than 300 plant species, including 6 state-listed species. The Forest Preserves of Cook County has built upon 20 years of volunteer stewardship here with regular prescribed burns, protection of delicate ravines from mountain biking, and ambitious hydrologic repairs funded by the O’Hare Modernization Mitigation Account.
  
  
• Fermilab, US Department of Energy
  On the grounds of one of the world’s leading particle physics labs is one of the world’s groundbreaking experiments in ecological restoration. Beginning in 1975, Fermilab crews, led by Dr. Robert Betz, used agricultural equipment to plant prairie on a vast scale. Today, staff and volunteers manage 1,000 acres of recreated tallgrass prairie connecting several hundred acres of remnant woodlands and wetlands. Shrublands, old-field grasslands, and sedge meadows add to the matrix. Whether through burning, mowing, or row crops, nearly all of the site’s 6,800 acres is managed in some way, much of it to maximize habitat value.
  
  
• Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve, Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
  Once row crops and a sod farm, the 1,829-acre Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve in Naperville is now better known for its regionally significant grassland and wetland bird populations. DuPage County’s highest-rated stream, Springbrook Creek, runs through the preserve. The District has returned the creek to its natural channel and floodplain, restored significant wetlands, and sought to improve habitat through creative partnerships such as the Regal Fritillary Habitat Creation Project. To protect the integrity of its highest quality natural areas, the District closed a road through the site and pushed most trails to the site’s exterior. 

Silver

• Hadley Valley Preserve, Forest Preserve District of Will County
  Once a key link in the greenway along Spring Creek near Joliet, the majority of Hadley Valley Preserve’s  700 acres has received intensive management over the past 12 years. The District remeandered nearly three miles of Spring Creek and disabled eight miles of drain tiles to restore more than 150 acres of wetlands. Through prescribed burns and invasive species removal, it has brought back more than 450 acres of prairie and is working to increase the diversity of native species. Photo: Dorian Jarrett
  

Platinum

• The Grant Creek Prairie, Illinois Department of Natural Resources
• Lake in the Hills Fen, McHenry County Conservation District, the Village of Lake in the Hills and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources
• MacArthur Woods, Lake County Forest Preserves
  
• Shoe Factory Road Prairie, Forest Preserves of Cook County and the Poplar Creek Prairie Stewards

Gold

Lockport Prairie East, Forest Preserve District of Will County and the Lockport Township Park District

2014 EERP Accreditation

Platinum

• Bluff Spring Fen, Elgin, IL, Forest Preserves of Cook County
  
• Hickory Creek Barrens Nature Preserve, New Lenox, IL, Forest Preserve District of Will County
• Johnson's Mound Forest Preserve, Elburn, IL, Forest Preserve District of Kane County
  
• Middlefork Savanna Forest Preserve, Lake Forest, IL, Lake County Forest Preserves
  
• The East Woods and Schulenberg Prairie and Savanna, Lisle, IL, The Morton Arboretum
  
• Pleasant Valley Conservation Area, Woodstock, IL, McHenry County Conservation District
  
• Illinois Beach State Park, Zion, IL, Illinois Department of Natural Resources
  

Gold

• Goose Lake Prairie Nature Preserve, Morris, IL, Illinois Department of Natural Resources
  

Silver

• Deer Run, Oak Ridge & McKiski Forest Preserves, Cherry Valley, IL, Forest Preserves of Winnebago
• County Flatwoods, Michigan City, IN, Shirley Heinze Land Trust

2013 EERP Accreditation

Platinum 

• Forest Preserve District of Will County—Braidwood Dunes & Savanna Nature Preserve
• Lake County Forest Preserves—Spring Bluff Forest Preserve
• McHenry County Conservation District—North Branch Conservation Area
• The Nature Conservancy—Indian Boundary Prairies

Gold  

• Chicago Botanic Garden—McDonald Woods
• Forest Preserve District of Kane County—Dick Young Forest Preserve

Bronze 

• Forest Preserves of Cook County—Powderhorn Marsh and Prairie Nature Preserve