Wetland Restoration at the Middle Fork River Forest Preserve Over the past several decades, dramatic losses in wetland acreage have occurred across the United States. More than half of the country's original wetland area has been lost, and over 200,000 more acres disappear each year. This loss is of special concern because of the important functions that wetlands perform. Many people now realize the value of wetlands in helping contain and disperse floodwaters, as illustrated by the 1993 flood along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.
Wetlands are also of great importance as habitat for plants and animals.
This increasing realization of the great importance of wetlands, combined with their dramatic recent losses, has led to the rapid development of the science of wetland creation and restoration. INHS researchers sampling vegetation at the Middle Fork River Forest Preserve. In east-central Illinois, Survey researchers, in cooperation with the Champaign County Forest Preserve District, the Grand Prairie Friends, and The Nature Conservancy, have worked to restore a kettle marsh along the Middle Fork of the Vermilion River. Historically a wetland, this area had been drained by underground field tiles and had been previously used as pasture. In 1990, the drainage tile system was dismantled, restoring the natural hydrology.