SPRINGFIELD – To support ongoing efforts aimed at protecting and revitalizing local landscapes and ecosystems, State Senator Rachel Ventura and State Representative Anna Moeller advanced legislation through the Senate that would create new rewilding strategies by giving the Illinois Department of Natural Resources more authority to implement conservation tactics.

“By creating a holistic rewilding strategy for the state, we can see landscapes restored to their previous state — a major win for the environment and their local ecosystems,” said Ventura (D-Joliet). “Over the last few decades, countless species of wild animals and plant life have been reduced significantly or completely lost to human activity, making this legislation timely and critically needed.”

House Bill 2726 would grant the Illinois Department of Natural Resources more power to implement rewilding as a conservation strategy. This could include the restoration of land to its natural state, the reintroduction of native species — particularly apex predators and keystone species — and the restoration of ecological processes as defined by state-specific baselines.

“Rewilding” means to restore an area of land to its natural uncultivated state. This term is used especially with reference to the reintroduction of species of wild animals that have been driven out of an area or exterminated by human interference.

 “Illinois’ varied and vibrant ecosystems and natural resources are treasures that have too often been altered or even destroyed without reckoning with the cost to the environment, animal species and our own society,” said state Rep. Anna Moeller (D-Elgin). “That’s why rewilding is so important. It preserves that which might otherwise be lost—and may even restore that which has been lost. Removing roadblocks to enable better environmental stewardship helps us build a brighter future for Illinois.”

Under current law, IDNR currently has no statutory authority to take measures that are necessary for the implementation of rewilding as a conservation strategy in Illinois. Illinois would be the first state to explicitly pass legislation on rewilding, advancing efforts to preserve and protect species.

House Bill 2726 passed the Senate on Wednesday.