The Illinois List of Endangered and Threatened Species is reviewed about every five years by the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board (ESPB). To date it has evaluated only plants and animals of the US state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, not fungi,

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

, or other forms of life; species that occur in Illinois which are listed as endangered or threatened by the U.S. federal government under the

Endangered Species Act of 1973 The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting and conserving imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of e ...

are automatically listed as such for the state of Illinois.

Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board

The Illinois Endangered Species Protection Act created the ESPB in 1972. The board is made up of six

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

s including at least one

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, two

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

s, and two ecologists. Board members are volunteers, and include Jeff Walk of

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

Philip Willink, Joyce Hofmann (chair), Janice Coons (vice-chair), Tracy Evans (secretary),

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

, Bruce Ross-Shannon, Jeremie Fant, Randy Schietzelt, Chris Young from the

Illinois Department of Natural Resources The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is the code department of the Illinois state government that operates the state parks and state recreation areas, enforces the fishing and game laws of Illinois, regulates Illinois coal mines ...

(non-voting member), and one vacancy. They met most recently in 2019 and penultimately in 2014.

Recovery plans

Only twenty species ever listed have had Illinois Endangered and Threatened Species Recovery Plans approved by the board, but other parties may implement recovery plans without board approval. Examples of plans implemented by other parties include that for Hine's emerald dragonfly ('' Somatochlora hineana'') headed by the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...

and Blanding's turtle (''

Emydoidea blandingii Blanding's turtle (''Emydoidea blandingii)'' is a species of semi-aquatic turtle of the family Emydidae. This species is native to central and eastern parts of Canada and the United States. It is considered to be an endangered species throughout ...

'') headed by the

Forest Preserve District of DuPage County The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is a governmental agency headquartered in Wheaton, Illinois, United States. Its mission is to acquire and hold lands containing forests, prairies, wetlands, and associated plant communities or lands ca ...

. Species with approved recovery plans are: eryngium stem borer ('' Papaipema eryngii''), golden mouse (''

Ochrotomys nuttalli The golden mouse (''Ochrotomys nuttalli'') is a species of New World mouse. It is usually 5–8 inches (12–25 cm) in body length, and has a soft pelage that ranges from golden-brownish to burnt orange in color. The genus name comes ...

''), American snowbell ('' Styrax americana''), bald eagle (''

Haliaeetus leucocephalus The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a Species complex, species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies ...

''), barn owl (''

Tyto alba The western barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is a species of barn owl ''Tyto'' native to Europe, southwestern Asia, and Africa. It was formerly considered a subspecies group together with barn owls native to other parts of the world, but this classifica ...

''), beardtongue (''

Penstemon tubaeflorus ''Penstemon tubaeflorus'', common name white wand beardtongue, is a species of ''Penstemon ''Penstemon'' , the beardtongues, is a large genus of roughly 280 species of flowering plants native to North America from northern Canada to Central ...

''), bloodleaf ('' Iresine rhizomatosa''), creeping St. Johnwort ('' Hypericum adpressum''), eastern woodrat (''

Neotoma floridana The eastern woodrat (''Neotoma floridana''), also known as the Florida woodrat or bush rat, is a pack rat native to the central and Eastern United States. It constructs large dens that may serve as nests for many generations and stores food in o ...

''), greater prairie-chicken (''

Tympanuchus cupido The greater prairie-chicken or pinnated grouse (''Tympanuchus cupido''), sometimes called a boomer,Friederici, Peter (July 20, 1989)"The Last Prairie Chickens" ''Chicago Reader''. Retrieved August 27, 2014.（Chinese 中文：帕艺明彩大凤� ...

''), halberd leaf tearthumb ('' Polygonum arifolium''/'' Tracaulon arifolium''), leatherflower ('' Clematis viorna''), marsh rice rat (''

Oryzomys palustris The marsh rice rat (''Oryzomys palustris'') is a semiaquatic North American rodent in the family Cricetidae. It usually occurs in wetland habitats, such as swamps and salt marshes. It is found mostly in the eastern and southern United States, f ...

''), mud-plantain ('' Heteranthera reniformis''), northern harrier (''

Circus cyaneus The hen harrier (''Circus cyaneus'') is a bird of prey. It breeds in Eurasia. The term "hen harrier" refers to its former habit of preying on free-ranging fowl. It migrates to more southerly areas in winter. Eurasian birds move to southern Euro ...

''), osprey (''

Pandion haliaetus The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a Diurnality, diurnal, piscivore, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor (bird), raptor, reaching more than ...

''), peregrine falcon (''

Falco peregrinus The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

''), road-winged sedge (''

Carex alata ''Carex alata'', commonly called broad-winged sedge, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family. It is native to eastern North America, in Canada and the United States. It grows in wet, marshy areas. The species name is Latin for "wing ...

''), royal catchfly ('' Silene regia''), and short-eared owl (''

Asio flammeus The short-eared owl (''Asio flammeus'') is a widespread grassland species in the family Strigidae. Owls belonging to genus ''Asio'' are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or ...

'').

List of species

References

{{Threatened species by region

*Endangered

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...