mid the ancient Illinois’ seasonal ebb and flow of waters, plants, animals and humanity flourished for millennia. Great abundance eventually brought great demands. At the dawn of the 20th century, the age of change was upon us. Humans harvested waterfowl and fish by the thousands for commercial industry. Mountains of mussels were discarded after being punctured for buttons. Boats filled the Illinois, which ferried the valley’s products to the markets of the world.

Slowly, without meaning to do lasting harm, people began to sculpt and change the Illinois, a waterway replete with life-sustaining waters. New dams helped barges maneuver. Levees created new farmland for a growing country. Together, these actions isolated the waters of the Illinois from its natural floodplain, thereby altering the river’s flood pulse, a vital ecological process that had endured for thousands of years. The river’s diversity of life ceased to thrive.

The age of change still is upon us, for people dare to dream of a day when ecological bounty thrives again alongside economic prosperity.