mals -- buffalo, elk, cougar, and bear -- could no 
longer be found in the state. Deer, beaver, and turkey 
were gone, but they have since been reintroduced. A 
small area east of Rantoul was available as one of 
the last. undisturbed flatland prairies of the state, 
but by 1915 it had been plowed. Illinois now has no 
sizable sample of the flatland prairie -- only remnants 
along railroads and fencerows. Not only the flatland 
but other types of prairie have been destroyed. The 
large expanses of bottomland prairie, grasslands that 
occupied huge areas of the floodplains of our larger 
streams, have been plowed and cultivated. Only fence- 
row remnants remain. Most of the sand prairie has 
been converted into fields of grain or melons or 
transformed into turkey farms. Prairies on the brow 
slopes of the valley walls of our large rivers -- hill 
prairies -- are the least disturbed of our prairies. 
Our state and the nation are experiencing a rapid 
rise in population and a concomitant need for more 
housing and homesites, more factory sites and shop- 
ping centers, and wider highways for swifter trans- 
portation. These place heavy demands upon land. As 
a consequence, many of our wetlands, the swamps, 
marshes and bogs, refuges for rare and unusual plants 
and homes or resting places of numerous birds, have 
been or are being drained. Hill prairies near metro- 
politan areas are being converted into homesites. 
Some of our remaining forest is being cut and the land 
cultivated or used as homesites. We are rapidly los- 
ing an important heritage — our natural areas. 
Although natural or scientific areas are ordinarily 
places of beauty, fig. 1, to the scientist they are 
much more than that. In such localities the biota -- 
the community of plants and animals -- lives in nearly 
undisturbed conditions. Here it is possible to study 
in natural surroundings a single species of plant or 
animal, or groups of plants or animals, or the rela- 
tionships of both. It is in these places that the once 
abundant and now rare species can survive. In these 
refuges the biologist can study the soil flora and 
fauna and their relationships to other organisms, a 
field of study in which much remains to be done. 
Without these natural areas, protected from all types 
of ‘“tmanagement,’’ such researches will be impos- 
sible. To scientists and laymen, natural or scientific 
areas are of great importance. 
In 1959, six Natural History Survey staff mem- 
bers (William E. Clark, Robert A. Evers, R. Weldon 
Larimore, Milton W. Sanderson, Philip W. Smith, and 
Lewis J. Stannard) who were interested in natural 
areas in Illinois, where they were located, and what 
was unique about them, became greatly concerned 
about our loss of scientifically important places. 
They suggested approximately 70 localities and from 
these selected 23 that they believed to be the most 
unusual. Most of the 23 localities are among the 24 
natural areas described in this article and located 
in fig. 2. The others are of importance, and doubtless 
there are many more areas within the state that are 
4 
worthy of preservation. Many of the state parks have 
been omitted, not because they lack natural areas but 
because they have been described elsewhere. 
It is my hope that from this article many citizens 
of Illinois will become conscious of the existence of 
our remaining natural areas and will obtain some 
knowledge of them. It is my further hope that this 
article may arouse a desire in some persons to visit 
these places, not to pick the flowers or kill the 
wildlife, but to enjoy the genuine natural beauty. (If 
a natural area is in private ownership, permission to 
enter it should be obtained from the owner.) Many of 
us who are concerned about these areas hope that a 
sizable group of people will become interested and 
will help in the preservation of some or all of these 
localities by supporting organizations that promote 
the preservation of natural areas and by supporting 
legislation that makes adequate preservation pos- 
sible. We hope that Illinois citizens of the present 
and future generations may enjoy natural and scien- 
tific areas in their state. 
Common names are employed throughout this ar- 
ticle except for plants that have no recognized com- 
mon names. A list of the scientific equivalents for 
the common names is appended. 
ACKNOWL EDGMENTS 
I wish to thank Richard R. Graber, Milton W. 
Sanderson, Philip W. Smith, and Lewis J. Stannard, 
all of the Illinois Natural History Survey staff, for 
supplying certain information included in this paper. 
William E. Clark took the photographs used as figs. 
17, 35, 36, 37, 41, 42, and 43. Wilmer D. Zehr took 
those used as figs. 10, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 
33, 34, and 40. All other photographs were taken by 
the author. The map that serves as fig. 2is the work of 
Miss Marguerite Verley. I also wish to thank George 
E. Ekblaw and Jack Simon of the State Geological 
Survey for information on the geology of some of the 
localities, Harlow B. Mills, H.H. Ross, and J. Cedric 
Carter for the encouragement they have given, and 
James S. Ayars, who edited the manuscript. 
1. APPLE RIVER CANYON 
Apple River Canyon, about 4 miles southeast of 
the village of Apple River, is partly included in a 
state park that lies in the south half of section 4, 
T. 28 N., R. 4 E., in Jo Daviess County. The canyon 
extends beyond the park limits into the northwest 
quarter of section 9, the east half of section 8, the 
north half of section 17, and_the south half of the 
northeast quarter of section 18. The actual area of 
the park is small; much more of the canyon should 
be purchased and preserved. 
Geologically this is a most interesting locality. 
The valley that trends from northwest to southeast 
widens southeastward. Another valley, which joins it 
at a right angle and trends southwestward, is narrow 
and has high cliffs. Younger than the valley that 
