OGLE COUNTY, Ill. (WIFR) – Buds from prairie smoke mark an early spring as flowers break open. Alan Branhagen brings his hand to the specks of pink — the only color besides brown and green on the small hill.
The Natural Land Institute executive director finds himself stepping on history.
“This is a relic of the original tall grass prairie,” Branhagen says of the land. Once a slice of Illinois’ 22 million acres of prairie, this 4-acre plot marks one of the final resting places for the state’s amber waves…