Midwest communities worry that firing of parks and forest employees will harm ecosystems, economies and education

At Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, the first stage of a large-scale restoration project has been paused as a $1.5 million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation was put on hold earlier this month because of the federal funding freeze. The initial phase involves removing invasive trees; some of them shrubby, some of them large, mature and harder to take out, which requires costly equipment. “We’re trying to do our best to triage, to create a restoration plan that’s now focused on not going backward,” said Emily Reusswig, vice president of conservation and policy at Openlands.