How 91% of Illinois Wetlands Disappeared With Peter Goodspeed

Illinois has already lost between **80% and 91% of its wetlands** over the last 200 years. Most of that land is now farmland, and most people have no idea it happened. Peter Goodspeed, Restoration Program Director at The Wetlands Initiative, has spent his career working to reverse that loss, one acre at a time. In this conversation he explains what a wetland actually is (it is more than standing water), why losing them leads to catastrophic flooding and dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico, and how a small 20-person nonprofit is quietly restoring thousands of acres across Illinois and Indiana, including a former WWII munitions plant just outside of Joliet. He also walks through what farmers, homeowners, and regular people can do right now to be part of the restoration, even without owning land. * * * **Chapters:** \[00:00] Introduction \[00:00] What Is The Wetlands Initiative? \[00:00] Why Peter Chose This Work \[00:00] What a Wetland Actually Is \[00:00] What Wetlands Do for Us \[00:00] Why 80-91% of Illinois Wetlands Are Gone \[00:00] Balancing Agriculture and Conservation \[00:00] A World With No Wetlands vs. a World With Plenty \[00:00] The Smart Wetlands Program \[00:00] The Dixon Refuge and Midewin Prairie \[00:00] The Calumet Region Restoration \[00:00] How You Can Get Involved * * * **Guest links:** The Wetlands Initiative: wetlands-initiative.org Instagram: @wetlandsinitiative * * * **GTZP links:** Website: gtzp.org Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/find-your-cause/id1528910691 Sponsor Alignment Call: calendly.com/gtzp/gtzp-impact-alignment * * * #FindYourCause #WetlandsRestoration #EnvironmentalNonprofit #Conservation #GreaterThanZeroPercent #TheWetlandsInitiative #ClimateAction #Chicago