Lockport Prairie restoration earns Silver Ribbon honor at Chicago-Calumet River Summit

_{Margaret Frisbee, executive director of Friends of the Chicago River; Juli Mason, director of conservation for the Forest Preserve District of Will County; and Matthew Nicolai, ecological restoration supervisor at Resource Environmental Solutions LLC.}  

The Forest Preserve District of Will County has received a Silver Ribbon Award from Friends of the Chicago River for the Lockport Prairie and Prairie Bluff Ecosystem Restoration Project. 

The award was presented during the 2026 Chicago-Calumet River Summit, themed “In Defense of Biodiversity,” held Jan. 30 at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in downtown Chicago. 

The annual summit brings together conservation leaders, planners, designers and advocates to highlight projects that protect and restore the Chicago-Calumet River system and surrounding watersheds through the Chicago River Blue Awards.

“It’s wonderful to receive this award, which recognizes the habitat restoration work done at Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” said Juli Mason, the Forest Preserve District’s director of conservation. “It recognizes the extraordinary ecological value of Lockport Prairie Nature Preserve and the hard work of countless crews to restore and enhance it.”

Lockport Prairie protects globally rare dolomite prairie and provides critical habitat for federally endangered species like leafy prairie clover, lakeside daisy and the Hine’s emerald dragonfly, she added. 

“Restoring and maintaining this landscape ensures these rare species, and the complex groundwater-fed wetlands they depend on, will continue to thrive,” Mason said. 

The restoration of more than 600 acres at Lockport Prairie and Prairie Bluff preserves took six years of coordinated work by the Forest Preserve District, the Army Corps and Resource Environmental Solutions LLC.

“Prior to investment in this site, the floristic quality of the prairie had been in steady decline, putting at risk the regionally important Hine’s emerald dragonfly habitat,” Friends of the Chicago River wrote in its award announcement. “The project’s incredible site improvements include expansive removal of invasive species, restoring natural underground flow processes, and improving habitats along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal corridor.”

Friends of the Chicago River has worked since 1979 to protect and restore the Chicago-Calumet River system. The organization presents Silver Ribbon awards to projects that demonstrate strong commitments to sustainability, ecological health and long-term stewardship.