The largest prairie remnant in Illinois is in the Goose Lake Prairie State Preserve near Morris in Grundy County. Numerous sites are undergoing restoration, encouraging prairie growth with fire while removing invasive alien species. Two such reconstructions are at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Kane and DuPage counties and the Morton Arboretum in DuPage County. The two facilities are the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie on the former site of the Joliet Arsenal , located between Kankakee and Joliet, and the Savanna Army Depot in northwestern Illinois. For more sites, go to the Illinois Prairie Index , a listing of prairie sites by county which is still being developed.
Many sites remain to be added.
Most of the listed sites are in the northeastern part of the state. Small prairie remnants have survived as part of cemeteries established by the early settlers. These are located throughout the state, and some have been identified as nature preserves. Go to list of prairie cemetery nature preserves. Fire is a natural occurrence in the life of the prairie.