Illinois senate committee advances bill to protect shawnee national forest while allowing active conservation management

A bipartisan conservation bill that would strengthen protections for Illinois’ Shawnee National Forest has successfully cleared a key Senate committee hurdle, earning praise from environmental advocates and legal experts across the state. The Shawnee National Forest Conservation Act of 2025, introduced by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) in July, takes a balanced approach to forest management that could serve as a model for other protected lands nationwide.

The legislation would designate certain areas within the 280,000-acre Shawnee National Forest with special conservation status, providing enhanced protections while still allowing the U.S. Forest Service to conduct essential management activities. Unlike blanket wilderness designations that restrict most human intervention, this bill specifically permits active management practices critical for forest health, including invasive species removal and prescribed fire management.

This nuanced approach addresses a key challenge facing many protected forests: how to preserve natural ecosystems while allowing the intervention necessary to maintain their health. The bill would prohibit extractive activities like logging in designated areas while ensuring forest managers can combat threats like invasive plant species and conduct controlled burns to prevent catastrophic wildfires.

Environmental groups see the legislation as a significant step forward for biodiversity conservation in southern Illinois. The Shawnee National Forest, which spans across the southernmost tip of Illinois, contains some of the state’s most diverse ecosystems and serves as crucial habitat for numerous wildlife species. If enacted, supporters believe the enhanced protections could lead to measurable improvements in habitat quality and species diversity throughout the forest.