its roots in the early history of Illinois trail
development. According to Buchtel, the
project harks back to one of the first rail-
trails developed in the country, the Illinois
Prairie Path (read more about the trail on
p. 21).
“The rails-to-trails movement started
here in Illinois,” explains Buchtel. It all
began with May Theilgaard Watts, a writer
and naturalist who had a vision far ahead of
the time to convert out-of-service rail lines
for recreational use. Watts, a Rails-to-Trails
Conservancy Doppelt Family Rail-Trail
Champion, staved off developers to protect
75 miles of interurban rail line so that peo-
ple could see and enjoy the tallgrass prairies.
“FromWatts’ perspective, the reason
people would walk on the trail would be
to see this natural environment,” Buchtel
says. “Really, the trail movement started in
conservancy.”
In his work, Buchtel says he often sees a
rift between conservationists and trail users.
“Bringing those two groups together again
is so important, because they both ulti-
mately want the same thing.” Not only that,
he says, but “research shows the more time
people spend out in nature, the more open
they are to conservation messaging. Then
they can learn how to become good stew-
ards of the land and can teach [others].”
Environmental Benefits of Trails
Many trail developers acknowledge that
any rail-trail project can provide environ-
mental benefits, whether intentionally as a
project goal or unintentionally through the
act of preservation itself. They accomplish
this by protecting ribbons of greenway,
which is where those environmental ben-
efits originate. But what is it about the
prairies that inspires such special dedica-
tion to environmental stewardship?
According to conservationists, it’s their
complexity and the larger role they play
in providing habitat for hundreds of spe-
cies, improving water quality, reducing the
effects of climate change and more.
“Preserving the remnants in place is
extremely important due to the complex-
ity of life and the food web that
developed in prairie commu-
nities,” explains Steven R.
Buck, natural areas coordina-
tor for the Illinois Natural
History Survey (
wwx.inhs.
illinois.edu/organization/
admin
), a division of the
Prairie Research Institute at
the University of Illinois. “These
remnants function not only as home
to species that are not very mobile, but
also as critical stopover points for species
that are mobile or migratory, such as the
monarch butterfly and bird species. The
late-blooming flower species, the myriad of
insect species and the ripening seed are all
critical to many of the migrating bird spe-
cies that evolved in North America,” Buck
says. “All the fields of ripening corn and
soybeans in this area are of little use to so
many species.”
Buck says he finds it ironic that these
disturbed railroad corridors—ripped up
during construction—have become the
least disturbed areas of prairie, a refuge for
prairie plant species that have crept back in
over time. “The lack of trees and minimal
disturbance of the soil has allowed many
prairie species to persist,” he explains. And
although the railbeds are narrow, at 50 to
100 feet wide, they are in fact corridors
that allow movement of plants, insects,
animals and water “unlike the highly frag-
mented landscape” in other areas, he says.
Unfortunately, the tallgrass prairies
that once covered much of Illinois after
thousands of years in the making are
now almost gone; the best that
can be done is to try to recon-
struct anew and protect what
remains.
“It takes about five to 10
years for a regrowth prairie to
look like a prairie. Until then,
the site will look like weeds,”
Monk says. “There is no room for
instant gratification. Prairie plants have
deep roots, and they have to establish first
before the flowers arrive. Even then, the
flowers are small and not showy except in
numbers.”
But, he adds, “We are preserving the
only tallgrass prairie habitat remaining
here and in much of the world.”
Elizabeth Striano is RTC’s director of communi-
cations and marketing. In addition to writing
about and promoting America’s trails and public
lands, Striano likes to visit rail-trails with her
family and her two dogs, Luca and Figo.
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Weldon Springs
State Park
Clinton Lake
State Recreation
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Kickapoo State
Recreation
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V E R M I L I O N
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C O U N T Y
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University
of Illinois
Urbana-
Champaign
danville
oakwood
clinton
champaign
urbana
rantoul
paxton
st. joseph
monticello
white heath
seymour
bondville
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Salt Fork
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Kickapoo Rail Trail
24.5 miles
Heartland Pathways
33 miles
Sangamon River Trail
1.2 miles
East Prairie Bicycle
& Walking Path
1 mile
Future Connection
illinois
DANIELLE MARKS
ELIZABETH STRIANO
rails
to
trails
winter.16
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