Landscape scale restoration awards are focused on restoration of priority forest landscapes that support the chiefs priorities of wildfire risk reduction, productive forests and active forest…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Eastern Region awarded The Morton Arboretum a $820,000 project grant under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance program (CFDA 10.664) on July 15, 2025, with a completion date of September 20, 2029. The grant funds implementation of the Oak Ecosystem Recovery Plan across five counties in northeastern Illinois through collaborative partnerships with five public and private landowners and managers. The primary deliverables include on-the-ground conservation activities designed to increase oak ecosystem health and connectivity, improve stand age diversity, enhance wildlife habitat, and expand overall ecosystem resilience while building public and private stakeholder awareness and engagement in oak ecosystem restoration.

The Morton Arboretum is executing this landscape-scale restoration project in partnership with five sub-awardees: the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, Openlands, The Land Conservancy of McHenry County, and the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. Sub-award agreements were executed between December 10, 2025 and February 5, 2026. The collaborative structure leverages the technical expertise of The Morton Arboretum's research and conservation capabilities alongside the ground-level implementation capacity and land management authority of regional forest preserve districts and conservation organizations, directly supporting the Forest Service's priorities for wildfire risk reduction, productive forest management, and responsible recreation on non-federal forest lands.

Landscape scale restoration awards are focused on restoration of priority forest landscapes that support the chiefs priorities of wildfire risk reduction, productive forests and active forest management, and responsible recreation. The projects also support priorities identified in state forest action plans and equivalent restoration strategies. These projects cooperatively implement management programs on state, private, and municipal forest lands that directly and indirectly benefit the health of federal forest land and the nations forests. Through this award, direct assistance is provided to non-federal land managers, private forest landowners, and municipalities to actively manage forests, which assists in producing timber. In this specific project the cooperator will work in partnership with five public and private landowners and managers to implement the OAK ecosystem recovery plan to increase conservation of important OAK ecosystems in five counties in northeastern illinois expanding on-the-ground conservation and increased awareness and action to improve stand age, connectivity, wildlife habitat, and overall health of OAK ecosystem habitats.