September 2025 Issue

Many things have changed over the last 100 years regarding fishing in Illinois. Thanks to the addition of 75 years of the Federal Aid in Sportfish Restoration Program and the work of professional fisheries biologists working throughout Illinois, fishing prospects are better than ever. So much so that state record fish are still being caught, even though the record fish program has been operating for many decades. Let’s take a look at some pole and line records over the years.

From jumping into boats to vacuuming up tiny plankton that form the base of the food chain, invasive carp are leaving a lasting impact on Illinois waters, but fisheries scientists are working tirelessly to fight this invasion. To better inform the control of invasive carp and understand the Illinois waterway fish community, the Illinois Natural History Survey and Illinois Department of Natural Resources formed the Multi-Agency Monitoring program, also called MAM.

According to Illinois Nature Preserves Commission Natural Areas Preservation Specialist Kim Roman, the story of reinvigorated stewardship at Markham Prairie is “a little bright spot in a world dominated by bad news.” How did that happen? Read on to discover good news in habitat conservation efforts led by a community of like-minded volunteers.

One of the most effective actions to take in combating invasive species is called Early Detection, Rapid Response. One way to improve our early detection capabilities is to review new invaders that may be coming to our area from elsewhere. While the species introduced in the article are already problematic on the landscape more broadly, early detection and rapid response in places where they are not yet widespread can reduce the overall negative effects and costs.

Two of the largest barriers that new hunters, youth and adult alike, struggle to overcome are: 1.) learning the skills and knowledge of hunting, and 2.) finding accessible property to hunt. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ Hunter Heritage Program is working to lower those barriers and allow new hunters to access low-pressure areas of public land with a mentor. Sharing a blind with a mentor allows new hunters to learn the craft of hunting in a comfortable environment and hopefully have a successful experience in the field.

Although commonplace, eastern gray squirrels appear particularly sensitive to habitat fragmentation—the breakup of larger tracts of suitable habitat into smaller, patchy ones—and have declined in several parts of their range, primarily due to the reduction of mature forest and woodland. This is especially true within Illinois where most original forest cover has been converted to uninterrupted agricultural land resulting in limited habitat connectivity.