List of protected areas of Illinois

Illinois has a variety of protected areas, including over 123 state-protected areas, dozens of federally protected areas, hundreds of county-level and municipal park areas. Illinois also contains sites designated as internationally important protected areas. These multiple levels of protection contribute to a statewide network of numerous recreation opportunities and conservation schemes, sometimes in a small area. For example, DeKalb County contains a 1000 acre forest preserve system and a 1500 acre state park (Shabbona Lake State Park); within DeKalb County, the DeKalb Park District in the City of DeKalb has a 700 acre park system.

State protected areas
Illinois state-owned protected areas include state parks, state forests, state recreation areas, state fish and wildlife areas, state natural areas, and one state trail. These areas are all administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. In addition, dozens of state historic sites are administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Division.

State historic sites
State historic sites are typically protected for their historic and cultural importance but may include a nature preservation component, such as at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site and Lincoln's New Salem. For a list, see Illinois Historic Preservation Division.

State parks
State parks are owned by the state and generally administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Specifically, “State Park” refers to sites “exhibiting exceptional scenic and natural features and terrain” and that “offer a wide range of recreational opportunities for the public to enjoy”.

State fish and wildlife areas
Areas whose primary purpose is to “reserve land and water areas for production and conservation of fish or wildlife and to provide hunting, fishing, trapping, observation, and other forms of compatible recreational use.”

State natural areas
Areas of land which “either retains or has recovered to a substantial degree its original natural or primeval character, though it need not be completely undisturbed, or has floral, faunal, ecological, geological or archaeological features of scientific, educational, scenic or esthetic interest.”

Federally protected areas
Illinois contains one national forest, the Shawnee National Forest, one national grassland, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, and several other sites administered by the National Park Service, including portions of National Trails. There are also National Wildlife Refuges.

National Forest Service Areas

 * Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie - 25,000 acre
 * Shawnee National Forest - 500,000 acre

U.S. Wilderness Areas
The following U.S. Wilderness areas are located within the Shawnee National Forest and are administered by the U.S. Forest Service: Crab Orchard Wilderness is located within Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge
 * Bald Knob Wilderness
 * Bay Creek Wilderness
 * Burden Falls Wilderness
 * Clear Springs Wilderness
 * Garden of the Gods Wilderness
 * Lusk Creek Wilderness
 * Panther Den Wilderness

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Areas

 * Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge
 * Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge - 43500 acre including the 4050 acre Crab Orchard Wilderness
 * Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge
 * Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge
 * Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge
 * Kankakee National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area
 * Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge Complex
 * Great River National Wildlife Refuge, portions in Pike and Adams Counties, Illinois
 * Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge, portion in Mercer County, Illinois
 * Meredosia National Wildlife Refuge
 * Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge
 * Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge
 * Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, portions in Jo Daviess, Carroll, Whiteside, and Rock Island Counties, Illinois

National Park Service
The National Park Service operates the federally owned Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, the Pullman National Historical Park in Chicago, and the New Philadelphia National Historic Site in Pike County in rural western Illinois. The Chicago Portage National Historic Site is a National Park Service-affiliated site which is located in the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. In addition, the National Park Service partners with the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

 * Carlyle Lake - 26000 acre of water and 11000 acre of public land
 * Illinois Waterway
 * Lake Shelbyville - 11100 acre lake and 23000 acre of land
 * Rend Lake - 18900 acre of water and 20000 acre of land

Internationally recognized protected areas
One UNESCO World Heritage Site in Illinois, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, is protected and listed as a state-owned historic site. Two of the eight World Heritage Site structures exemplifying the 20th-Century architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright are also located in Illinois: Unity Temple and the Robie House, and are protected by local and federal schemes.

In addition to cultural sites, Illinois contains five wetland areas designated as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention:
 * Cache River-Cypress Creek Wetlands (including Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge)
 * Chiwaukee Prairie Illinois Beach Lake Plain (shared with Wisconsin)
 * The Emiquon Complex (including Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge)
 * Sue and Wes Dixon Waterfowl Refuge
 * The Upper Mississippi River Floodplain Wetlands (shared with Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin)

Local level parks
A variety of county and town protected areas exist in Illinois, including city park districts and county-wide Forest Preserve or Conservation Districts, as well as land owned by private conservation organizations. One of the largest systems is the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, which includes Brookfield Zoo and the Chicago Botanic Garden as well as 70000 acre of open land, or 11.6 percent of Cook County's land area. Under Illinois law, counties may set up a conservation land holding district, after approval by county voters. Although most of the 102 counties have not established such a public landholding agency, below are the approved county districts:


 * Boone County Conservation District - 4000 acre
 * Byron Forest Preserve District - 1708 acre
 * Champaign County Forest Preserve District - 4000 acre
 * Forest Preserve District of Cook County - 70000 acre
 * DeKalb County Forest Preserve - 4000 acre
 * Forest Preserve District of DuPage County - 26,000 acre
 * Forest Preserve District of Kane County - 20,000 acre
 * Forest Preserves of the Kankakee River Valley - 465 acre
 * Kendall County Forest Preserve District - 2663 acre
 * Lake County Forest Preserve - 31,000 acre
 * Macon County Conservation District - 3490 acre
 * McHenry County Conservation District - 24000 acre
 * Putnam Country Conservation District - 1100 acre
 * Rock Island Forest Preserve District - 2529 acre
 * Vermilion County Conservation District - 6600 acre
 * Forest Preserve District of Will County - 21,966 acre
 * Winnebago County Forest Preserve District - 11,500 acre