Illinois Updates Endangered Species List

In February, the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board announced changes to the Illinois endangered and threatened species lists, the first since 1999. The revisions include many species found in Chicago Wilderness.

The river otter and three birds — the red-shouldered hawk, pied-billed grebe, and brown creeper — have been removed from the threatened species list due to increased populations. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources' program to reintroduce the otter has been so successful that the mammal is beginning to expand its range beyond the original areas of reintroduction. The red-shouldered hawk, like other raptors, has benefited from reductions in DDT levels in the environment. Its population is estimated to be twice as large as it was in 1977, when the hawk was first listed.

The Henslow's sparrow and the peregrine falcon, two birds found in the Chicago region, have been moved from the endangered to the threatened list. The Henslow's sparrow has benefited in part from the federal Conservation Reserve Program, in which farmers set aside cropland, partly as habitat, for periods of 10 to 15 years. The peregrine falcon has made a comeback since 1985, when the state began to reintroduce the birds. From 1990 to 2003, the population has increased from one to ten breeding pairs. So far, the raptors nest exclusively in buildings and other urban structures.

Biologists also have located a tiny fish, the Iowa darter, in several new locations in northern Illinois, prompting its move from endangered to threatened status.

On the plant side, the board added the sedge Carex formosa to the endangered list. In this case, the listing was a positive sign; the plant had been unknown in Illinois until citizen-scientists Jane and John Balaban discovered it in a Cook County forest preserve. Buffalo clover, moved from endangered to threatened status, has been recovering now that the savanna communities it lives in are getting the controlled burns they need. Though it hasn't been seen in Chicago Wilderness since 1947, conservationists hope that the plant will spring up here from seeds left in the soil.

There are many other species in Illinois, however, that are in decline. The cerulean warbler has been added to the threatened list, as well as the Franklin's ground squirrel. Once common across the state, the squirrel is now confined to a few small colonies.

The board's revisions must undergo a review process, scheduled for completion in fall, before they become final. See the IDNR site for the current list and for revisions when they are final.

— Lucy Elam