Reconnecting the Wild Midwest

It began as TNC’s first-ever land acquisition in Ohio back in 1959—a 42-acre prairie parcel—and grew into the 20,000+ acre Edge of Appalachia Preserve, “the Edge.” Now, we work to connect the Edge with other partner-protected lands, including the Shawnee State Forest and Daniel Boone National Forest, as well as private forests enrolled in the Family Forest Carbon Program.

As part of this effort, we identified this priority corridor, which sits within the Appalachian foothills of Southern Ohio, in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the USDA Forest Service, Indigenous partners, local landowners and more. It builds on our previous efforts to connect habitats, such as the Sunshine Corridor project, and is vital to achieving our goal of protecting more than 2 million acres of forested land and high-quality streams in the Appalachians.

• This region is one of the most climate-resilient, biologically diverse and carbon-rich landscapes in the world.
• It contains ancient forested mountains, valleys, wetlands and rivers that provide homes for more than 100 rare plant and animal species, including endangered species like the Indiana bat, green salamander and Allegheny woodrat.
• Since the reconnection efforts began, populations of black bears and bobcats appear to be recovering, with nearly 300 black bear sightings and more than 500 bobcat sightings in recent years. This positive upward trend will hopefully continue, as land protection efforts from private woodland owners expand their habitat.
• It nurtures a rich variety of cultures and communities and is home to Ohio’s only UNESCO World Heritage site, the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, which are gigantic earthen enclosures built by Indigenous Peoples thousands of years ago.

Corridors connect more than habitats—they connect different projects and approaches to conservation. This priority corridor in southwest Wisconsin is a prime example of how bridging different bodies of work helps us achieve a large-scale, long-term plan for improved stewardship and connectivity among diverse habitats.

Within this corridor, we’ve played key roles in environmental policy advocacy for partner-led freshwater restoration efforts along the Lower Wisconsin River. We’re exploring collaborations with Indigenous partners, as well as private landowners, such as local cranberry and potato farmers, to improve habitat quality in buffer zones around their properties. We’re also exploring opportunities to improve habitat and grazing management on clean energy sites, which include some of the largest solar farms in the Midwest.

In addition, TNC has stewarded large-scale land protection efforts in this region of Wisconsin for decades:

• Our work in the Baraboo Hills helps protect the remains of one of the most ancient rock outcrops in North America—an ecologically unique forested sanctuary underlain by durable rock called Baraboo quartzite, which provides habitat for more than 1,800 species of plants and animals.
• We own and manage the Spring Green Preserve, which harbors some of Wisconsin’s rarest habitats, including sand prairie, dry bluff prairie and black oak barrens, which are home to plant communities found nowhere else in the state. Known as the “Wisconsin Desert,” the preserve is a place where forest meets bluff, and bluff levels off into plains and dunes.
• We support county, state and federal agencies responsible for managing most of the 2.2-million-acre Central Sands landscape, which contains rare and unique habitats including sandy plains, wetlands, oak and pine barrens, and rocky mesas and buttes.

Even our largest, most populous cities can support habitat corridors, which also provide recreational opportunities for residents. This priority corridor supports our goal of benefiting millions of people with nature-based solutions while protecting the remaining highest-quality habitats throughout northern Illinois and northwest Indiana.

Done in partnership with the Chicago Park District, the USDA Forest Service, the Departments of Natural Resources for both Indiana and Illinois, local land trusts and more, our urban conservation work supports city tree canopies and neighboring trail systems for outdoor recreation. These urban greenspaces contribute important links in corridor habitat and provide environmental benefits to residents, such as reduced heat levels, flood mitigation and cleaner air and water that support better health.

Beyond Chicago, this corridor is heavily focused on freshwater stewardship work in the Grand Calumet watershed. This region was once one of the most polluted areas of the Great Lakes, and while there is still much work to be done, TNC has been a key partner in efforts to protect and restore the unique mosaic of habitats, including a globally rare natural community known as dune and swale.

This corridor also connects our 10,000+ Kankakee Sands Preserve in Illinois and Indiana with many partner-protected lands, including the Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife Area, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, Goose Lake Prairie and Starved Rock State Park.

• Together, these natural areas total more than one million acres of dry, mesic and wet sand prairies, forests, rivers, wetlands and black oak savannas.
• In 2016, we restored bison to the Efroymson Prairie at Kankakee Sands. The herd, which has grown to more than 100 bison, supports the natural management of these prairies and requires a huge range of protected, connected habitats to thrive.