Clean air and water.  Wildlife habitat.  Scenic beauty.  The Natural Land Institute (NLI) protects these precious resources that come from the land.

NLI promotes voluntary private land conservation for the benefit of our local communities and natural systems.   We are long-term caretakers of the wetlands that border our rivers, the prairies that adorn our hillsides, and the woodlands that provide critical wildlife habitat.

In 2010, we assisted Mark and Louis Cagnoni to safeguard the land they cherish for their family and for future generations.  The Cagnonis protected Ottertail Marsh using a tool for conserving private land, a conservation easement.  They entered into a legal agreement with NLI that permanently limits uses of the land in order to protect its conservation values.   The agreement allows the Cagnonis to continue to own and use their land, and they can also sell it or pass it on to heirs.

Mark Cagnoni has a deep connection to the land he named Ottertail Marsh and was determined to safeguard the 131 acres of wetland along the Sugar River he loves.  He raised plants like cordgrass, tussock sedge and sweet flag and planted them to enhance the marshes.  Before long, he saw Blandings turtles, little green herons and his much-loved river otters returning to the areas he restored.

In 2010, Barbara Fell, wife of our founder, George B. Fell, donated a 45-acre addition to Silver Creek Preserve in southwest of Rockford to NLI.  The addition brings the total acres in the preserve to 125.

Barbara said the original 80 acres of woodland dominated by shagbark hickory and walnut was never cleared.  It was grazed by cattle, but it gradually recovered when they purchased the land and ended the grazing.  She said they also stopped farming the 45 acres, collected prairie seeds and planted them on parts of the land that drained to the creek.  She and George were delighted by the variety of plants and animals making their homes in the woodland and restored grassland.


Also in 2010, we reached an agreement with the Blackhawk Council of the Boy Scouts of America for a conservation easement on 85 acres of upland forest and cliff communities on Canyon Camp in exchange for 43 acres of land at the southern end of the 148-acre tract NLI acquired in 2009 along the Apple River.  About 34 acres of the land being given to the Boy Scouts to expand the camp was also protected by a conservation easement.  Both easements are held by the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission and will protect the land forever.

With the help of our members and supporters, we will continue in 2011 to work with the private landowners who know the benefits undeveloped properties provide our communities.

Negotiations are underway with owners of important wetlands and woodlands along the Sugar and Pecatonica rivers.  We are talking with landowners in the Mississippi River blufflands, and we continue to restore forests and wetlands in Milan Bottoms, a unique natural area along the Mississippi River near Rock Island.

In 2011, we will introduce more people to the work of the Natural Land Institute and foster an appreciation for the natural world.  We will train future land stewards with programs and activities for Scouts, students and other groups; hold our second Conservation Camp for young adults; host Wildflower Weekend at the Nygren Wetland Preserve; and sponsor our annual Wildflower Walkabouts, a series of walks at our region’s most beautiful natural areas, in partnership with Severson Dells Nature Center.

NLI is one of the oldest, private, not-for-profit land conservation organizations in the Midwest.  Since our founding by George B. Fell in 1958, we have grown to become northern Illinois’ leading regional land trust and preserved more than 15,000 acres of the best prairies, woodlands and wetlands. 

NLI members are partners in this rich history of land conservation. 

Please click here to join today!.