Picture Information

 

Taken from http://nature.org/initiatives/freshwater/work/illinoisriver.html

Location: The Illinois River is formed at the confluence of the Des Plaines and Kankakee Rivers approximately 50 miles southwest of Chicago, IL and flows 273 miles across the state where it joins the Mississippi River near Grafton, IL, approximately 25 miles north of Saint Louis, Missouri. The Illinois River drains approximately 30,000 square miles and its drainage extends slightly into Wisconsin and Indiana.

 

Size: river length: 273 miles; project area: 2,026 acres

 

Plant Species: Big and little bluestem, Indian grass, black-eyed Susan, prairie coreopsis, prairie cordgrass, river bulrush, white water buttercup, American lotus, arrowhead, coontail

 

Animal Species: Eastern bluebird, Henslow sparrow, American bittern, black-crowned night heron, black and sora rails, bald eagle, river otter, muskrat, beaver, mink, bog lemming, prairie king and Western ribbon snakes, plains leopard, northern cricket frogs