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  forest preserve system and a  state park (Shabbona Lake State Park); within DeKalb County, the DeKalb Park District in the City of DeKalb has a  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 nature preserves, 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.

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 - 
Shawnee National Forest -

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:
Bald Knob Wilderness
Bay Creek Wilderness
Burden Falls Wilderness 
Clear Springs Wilderness
Garden of the Gods Wilderness
Lusk Creek Wilderness
Panther Den Wilderness
Crab Orchard Wilderness is located within Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Areas
 Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge
 Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge -  including the  Crab Orchard Wilderness
 Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge
 Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge
 Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge
 Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge Complex
 Meredosia National Wildlife Refuge
 Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge
 Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge

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 an 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 -  of water and  of public land
Illinois Waterway
Lake Shelbyville -  lake and  of land
Rend Lake -  of water and  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 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  of open land, or 11.6 percent of Cook County's land area. Most counties lack a public landholding agency, but below are the landholdings the districts in Illinois:

Boone County Conservation District - 
Byron Forest Preserve District - 
Champaign County Forest Preserve District - 
Forest Preserve District of Cook County - 
DeKalb County Forest Preserve - 
Forest Preserve District of DuPage County - 
Forest Preserve District of Kane County - 
Forest Preserves of the Kankakee River Valley - 
Kendall County Forest Preserve District - 
Lake County Forest Preserve - 
Macon County Conservation District - 
McHenry County Conservation District - 
Putnam Country Conservation District - 
Rock Island Forest Preserve District - 
Vermilion County Conservation District - 
Forest Preserve District of Will County - 
Winnebago County Forest Preserve District -

References

External links
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Recreation.gov

Protected areas
Illinois
Protected