SR0129 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0129 LRB103 31082 MST 57720 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, A prairie is a type of grassland and is the largest type of habitat in North America; and

WHEREAS, Prairies usually form on level or smoothly rolling landscapes; and

WHEREAS, Weather conditions in Illinois over thousands of years helped determine that prairies would exist in the State; climate in prairies is characterized by hot, dry summers and cold winters; when these conditions developed approximately 8,300 years ago, the tallgrass prairie became a major part of the Illinois landscape; and

WHEREAS, In 1820, Illinois had 22 million acres of prairie land and 14 million acres of forests; prairies were mainly in the northern two-thirds of the State with forests in the southern one-third; all but nine counties had large areas of prairies; in central Illinois, trees could only be found in scattered sites called "prairie groves" or along waterways; and

WHEREAS, By 1900, most of Illinois' prairies were gone; the majority of these lands were converted to agricultural practices; by 1978, less than 2,300 acres of high quality prairie remained in the entire State; most of the undisturbed prairie sites today are found along railroad rights-of-way, in pioneer cemeteries, and in places that are not suitable for farming; and

WHEREAS, Because much of the prairie has been destroyed, many of the organisms that depend upon it for their habitat needs have been forced to move to new habitats or have become very scarce in the State; and

WHEREAS, It is not possible to return to the days of vast expanses of prairie in Illinois, as they are gone forever; today, we need to protect, manage, and learn from the prairie remnants that remain and restore prairie where we can; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare the third week of September 2023 as "Prairie Week" in the State of Illinois in order to promote the awareness of and appreciation for prairies; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Department of Natural Resources.