Let Illinois Amaze Us: Rewilding Law in the Prairie State

By: Jason Kahn

August 29, 2025

The Prairie State of Illinois has done what no other U.S. state has yet achieved: Illinois’ legislature passed House Bill 2726 through both the state senate and assembly. The nation’s first and only “Rewilding Bill” had broad bipartisan support and was signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker on August 1. Feel free to take a moment considering that.

The law grants more power to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to implement rewilding into its conservation strategy. This includes the restoration of land to its natural state, reintroduction of native plant and animal species, and the restoration of ecological processes. The law particularly encourages the reintroduction of apex predators and keystone species.

The champions of the Rewilding Bill were the Senate sponsor Rachael Ventura and State Representative sponsor Anna Moeller. Each of them introduced Bill 2726 earlier this year to their respective chambers and despite pushback from some who had concerns about the bill’s potential effects on agricultural lands, encroachment on private property, and hunters who feared that the deer population would be driven down, the bill moved through committee and the legislative process in less than six months. Which has to be a record of some sort.

“By creating a holistic rewilding strategy for the state, we can see landscapes restored to their previous state – a major win for the environment and their local ecosystems. Over the last few decades, countless species of wild animals and plant life have been reduced significantly or completely lost to human activity, making this legislation timely and critically needed.”

– Illinois State Senator Rachael Ventura

The Illinois Rewilding Law will take effect on January 1, 2026, with the hope of an array of benefits for the state. Benefits such as flood mitigation, wildfire resilience, increased pollinator habitat, and increased biodiversity. The law gives the Illinois DNR wide authority to implement the aforementioned strategies into its conservation efforts, yet the citizens of Illinois will be the ones who must convince the DNR to take action. Like all laws, it will only work when put into practice and enforced. It’s not an easy task for conservation-minded groups in Illinois to press a state agency into an action it may be otherwise reluctant to take. Yet the new law is clear about what the DNR must do: “The Department of Natural Resources has the power to exercise all rights, power, and duties conferred by law to take measures that are necessary for the implementation of rewilding.”

The fact that the nation’s first rewilding law occurs in a state that has 76 percent of its land in agricultural use and only about 0.1 percent in its original, natural state should not discourage anyone. Nature knows how to take care of itself. If we stop insulting and abusing it, all we would need to do is to let it grow, let it mature, and let it be. And the wildlife will find a way in.

A central portion of the Hubble Deep Field, created from 1995 exposures [Source: NASA, Robert Williams, and the Hubble Deep Field Team]

Like the universe itself, magnificent things have been found in unlikely places. I am reminded of the Hubble Deep Field. In December 1995, astronomers pointed the most powerful telescope ever created, at that time, toward the most empty section of space they could find. As you might guess, fellow astronomers balked at the idea. Time on the Hubble Telescope was hard to come by, and there was a long list of researchers who needed access to the telescope. “You want to point the most powerful telescope in the world at absolutely nothing?,” someone was quoted back then. The answer was yes. So for 10 days in late 1995, the Hubble Telescope was directed at “absolutely nothing.” As the images came back, people could not believe what they found. There on the edge of the known universe, astronomers found no less than 3,000 galaxies. Each galaxy contained billions of stars. Each star is potentially surrounded by planets, moons, and comets. Each planet potentially supports life. You see where this is going, right? The State of Illinois is the nation’s first to codify rewilding into law. It should not stop with Illinois.

Bison and beaver and wild apex predators belong to the prairie as much as the Earth belongs to the Sun. Let Illinois amaze us with what it can achieve with rewilding as a conservation strategy. Let the local people and communities drive the conversation about what they want, need, and what best serves the long-term interests of the state. And let others follow the bold lead of this Midwestern state. As Thoreau said, “I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have that seed, and I am prepared to expect wonders.”

For more information about the Rewilding Bill, visit the Illinois General Assembly here.

“Illinois’ varied and vibrant ecosystems and natural resources are treasures that have too often been altered or even destroyed without reckoning with the cost to the environment, animal species, and our own society. That’s why rewilding is so important. It preserves that which might otherwise be lost – and may even restore that which has been lost. Removing roadblocks to enable better environmental stewardship helps us build a brighter future for Illinois.”

– Illinois State Representative Anna Moeller

Jason Kahn

Jason attended SUNY Geneseo, graduating with a BS in Geology in 1984, and from SUNY New Paltz with an MA in secondary education, (and an unofficial minor in rock climbing) in 1992. He’s been a lifelong wild lands enthusiast enjoying a varied array of outdoor activities.  Jason taught Earth Science and Physical Science for 30 years in Chatham, NY before retiring to Amherst, Massachusetts. Jason’s been an environmental activist/ educator for most of his adult life, focusing chiefly on the Adirondack Mountains of his home state and wildlife issues in the northeast.