Wildlife Prairie State Park

Wildlife Prairie State Park
IUCN category III (natural monument or feature)
Map of the U.S. state of Illinois showing the location of Wildlife Prairie State Park
Location	Peoria County, Illinois, USA
Nearest city	Hanna City, Illinois
Coordinates	40°44′02″N 89°44′50″W
Area	1,700 acres (690 ha)
Established	September 5, 2000
Governing body	Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Wildlife Prairie State Park, officially dedicated as Hazel & Bill Rutherford Wildlife Prairie State Park, is an Illinois state park located in Peoria County, Illinois, in central Illinois, about 10 miles (16 km) west of downtown Peoria.

The massive park, consisisting of mostly wildlife animals native to Illinois, was first established in the late 1960s, and was first open to the public in the autumn of 1978 under the name Wildlife Prairie Park. It was transferred from private foundation ownership to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and renamed in autumn of 2001. A motel, restaurant, and other attractions are also located on the grounds. Years before environmental protection was common practice in most places, many of the man-made features of the park were built manually and with recycled materials to minimize the impact to the environment.

References

• USGS. "USGS Peoria West (IL) Quad". TopoQuest. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 

External links

• Wildlife Prairie State Park website