I didn’t know this existed, but the Montgomery County Natural Area Guardians have been diligently trying to restore an 8-acre tract off of Route 66 north of Litchfield, Ill., into its original prairie state.
According to the Journal-News in nearby Hillsboro, Ill., the group will hold an annual free education day at 4 p.m. Thursday at the tract. The Route 66 Prairie, as it’s called, is about 3.5 miles north of the turnoff of Illinois 16 off Route 66.
The long term goal of MCNAGs is to make Route 66 Prairie a tourist stop for travelers following Route 66. Eilers believes that it could bring many additional tourist dollars to the area as well as serve as an educational stop.
After that, the group will go to Doug and Karyl Dressen’s home on the other side of Interstate 55. The Dressens are using native grasses around a burrow pit used during I-55’s construction.
At one point, Illinois was covered with 22 million acres of prairie. Now, just 2,000 acres remain.