illinois natives -- jeff walk, director of science for the nature conservancy, project director bill kleiman and restoration ecologist cody considine. >> it was a vast landscape dominated by those grasses but the real diversity of the prairie was in the wild flowers the forbs the broad leaf plants and thousands of species of insects that dozens of birds and mammals and reptiles that called the prairie home, along with animals like the bison. what was once this vast landscape across much of illinois has been virtually eliminated and turned into the corn belt. >> but illinois isn't alone. since the late 1800's prairie grasslands across the united states have been steadily vanishing. >> i have heard grasslands in general referred to as the unheralded counterparts of the rain forest and grasslands have a critical role in terms of climate change as well? >> in a prairie most of that carbon is stored in the soil, so it's very secure for very long term storage as soil organic matter. >> in essence, the plants of the tall grass prairie absorb carbon dioxide, trapping it in the deep roots. the restor