Success Stories
Illinois
Cutting edge Chronic Wasting Disease research on deer herds across Illinois/Wisconsin border
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is making a major contribution to the researching chronic-wasting-disease (CWD), and implementing disease control measures across the Illinois-Wisconsin border. An ongoing Wildlife Restoration grant is providing funding for veterinary diagnostic tools and demographic analysis of deer herds. Illinois is continuing to provide some of the best efforts at containing CWD, while applying some of the best science to understand the disease and how it is transmitted between herds of deer. Dr. Nohra Mateus-Pinilla and Dr. Jan Novakofski at the University of Illinois are working with the DNR to turn the results of well-developed studies into effective management of chronic wasting disease.
Illinois leads the charge for developing early detection tools for White-Nose Syndrome across the country
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is at the cutting edge of research to understand and manage white-nose-syndrome (WNS), a disease spreading westward across bat populations. With assistance from Wildlife Restoration funds, the Illinois DNR is working alongside Dr. Nohra Mateus-Pinilla and Dr. Jan Novakofski from the University of Illinois to develop a strong, multisystem approach to early detection, monitoring, and hopefully managing WSN. Illinois DNR is taking a lead amongst wildlife management agencies to address this rapidly emerging threat to our bat populations.
Expanding long-term monitoring of fisheries resources to Ohio and Wabash Rivers in Illinois
The Illinois DNR, with the assistance of the Illinois Natural History Survey, has conducted century-long population monitoring of Illinois River and middle Mississippi River fisheries. With the assistance of Sport Fish Restoration funds, the Illinois DNR has recently expanded their monitoring efforts to the Ohio and Wabash Rivers, and to a much larger portion of the Mississippi River south of St. Louis.
More than a century of bird and habitat monitoring data in Illinois
From 2007-2009, in an unprecedented effort to monitor habitat and bird population change over time, the Illinois DNR provided the Illinois Natural History Survey a half million dollars of their State Wildlife Grant funds to conduct the third iteration of a cross state walking survey, first done in 1906-1909, and repeated in 1956-1958. The comparative study provides valuable details on changes in land cover, agricultural practices, and bird populations and behavior.
