US Forest Service honors history of Joliet Arsenal workers

This summer, U.S. Forest Service employees and volunteers hosted a public program to honor the history of the workers who “served on the home front,” during World War II at the Joliet Arsenal. The arsenal was active where Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is located today.

In increments, land where tons of TNT, detonators and a range of different munitions were once manufactured years ago is being transferred from the U.S. Army to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. So far, 18,500 acres of land have been transferred, according to a news release from the USDA Forest Service. In 1996, the Illinois Land Conservation Act called for arsenal buildings, including some of the hundreds of bunkers where ammunitions were stored, to be cleared from the land so that space could be cleared for growing tallgrass prairie plants once again.

With some roots exceeding 11 feet deep into the ground, forming an active, carbon-hungry web, prairie plants are essential to the health of the environment. Once, prairie plants covered Illinois. There was so much prairie that Illinois became known as “the prairie state.” Today, less than one-tenth of one percent of prairie remains. At Midewin, USDA FS employees and volunteers are working with over 275 different species of prairie plants to try to restore prairie.

Former Joliet Arsenal worker Elmo Ray Younger, a WWII U.S. Army veteran, spoke during the program. He was instrumental in raising funds to cover the costs of the statue and its installation. Elmo turned 100 years old on Feb. 18. He thanked everyone for being there and for caring so graciously about the important history of the land.