Healing the Land

In 1993, the 23,500-acre Joliet Army Ammunition Plant 40 miles southwest of Chicago was declared excess federal land. What to do with over 23,000 acres of open space so close to Chicago became the topic of considerable discussion. Under the leadership of then-Congressman George Sangmeister, the Joliet Arsenal Citizen's Planning Commission developed and adopted a reuse plan for the land.

The reuse plan for the Joliet Army Ammunition Plant allocated approximately:

• 3,000 acres to industrial park development, 

• 982 acres to a national cemetery to be developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 

• 455 acres to be developed as a landfill by Will County, and 

• 19,165 acres to be managed as open space for ecosystem restoration and outdoor recreation. 

This plan was the basis for legislation titled the Illinois Land Conservation Act of 1995.  The bill was signed by President Clinton on February 10, 1996, establishing Public Law 104-106 and creating the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.

On March 10, 1997, the U.S. Army formally transferred the first 15,080 acres to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Midewin is now more than an idea -- it is a reality. But the healing of the land and the restoration of the prairie is a project that extends far into the future.