Wigwam Hollow Bird Sanctuary

Opening to the Public in 2025!
For now, check out our events page for upcoming public tours of this preserve. From Oct 2-Jan 31, this property will also be closed to public access due to active hunting as part of our conservation program. Check out our events page for public events in the meantime!

Events

This 200 acre oak-hickory woodland and prairie preserve is located in Macomb, Illinois!
In 2012, PLC acquired 18 acres of the property from the Illinois Audubon Society. In 2019, Lew and Suanne Marx donated an additional 181 acres of adjoining land increasing the size of the sanctuary by ten times. Bisecting this land is Wigwam Hollow Creek that joins the protected east fork of the La Moine River. Restoration goals of this preserve are to manage, enhance, and create new habitat for migratory birds, declining bird species, and endangered Indiana bats. Restoration efforts on this preserve have included removing invasives, timber stand improvements, re-planting native tree species, and the restoration of a prairie for bird and insect habitat.

2023-24 PLC Intern Cody Cornell from the National RC&D Council did amazing work organizing stewardship events with local college students and volunteering with bat surveys at Wigwam Hollow Bird Sanctuary. Thanks to Cody’s leadership and dedication, 50 deer excluders were put up around the native tree seedlings that were planted in the spring of 2024. About his work, Cody said, “It would be wonderful to come back in 50 years and see how much these young trees have grown.”
The photo to the right is of Cody performing bat monitoring.

This land is being conserved, in part, by funding made available as mitigation for impacts caused by the construction and maintenance of the Enbridge Pipelines, LLC, Flanagan south Pipeline. The Conservation Fund is working in partnership with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to manage the pipeline mitigation funds as part of its Midwest Habitat Fund.