Chautauqua NWR
Refuge Regulations | 
Fact Sheet | Refuge Brochure | 
Refuge Map
For thousands of years, waterfowl and other migratory birds by the millions rested and fed in the wet Illinois River bottoms during their annual migration from northern breeding grounds to southern winter homes. Lake Chautauqua was a rich mosaic of sloughs, wetlands, and woodlands.
In the 1920s the area was diked, drained, and converted for agricultural production. However, in only two years, the Illinois River reclaimed the land. As nearby agricultural development and barge traffic increased, river silt was deposited in tranquil backwater areas like Lake Chautauqua. Aquatic plants, which provide food for waterfowl and other wildlife, were smothered. With the purchase of the Chautauqua Drainage and Levee District in 1936, Lake Chautauqua became a part of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Today, Chautauqua Refuge provides refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds, fish, and other wildlife.
The refuge is comprised of 4,388 acres of land and water. Lake Chautauqua impounds 3,200 acres of water, while another 800 acres of water and timbered bottomland are located outside of the pooled area. The remaining acreage is composed of upland and forest. A variety of wildlife habitat types are found within the refuge boundary. The refuge is bounded on the west by the Illinois River and its associated mixed bottomland and hardwood forests, buttonbush-willow swamps, and sedge marshes. Adjacent on the north and south ends are shallow floodplain lakes, similar to Lake Chautauqua, but without water level control structures.
On the east side is a sandy bluff, rising 70 feet above the lake, wave-cut and nearly vertical in places. This bluff is vegetated at the top with an oak-hickory upland hardwood complex, grading downward to cottonwood, red maple, silver maple, sycamore, ash, and finally black willow as it reaches the floodplain level. Several areas of old delta formation consist of marshes and sedge, buttonbush, and willow interspersions. Of particular interest along this east shoreline are large seepage springs which keep strips of the shoreline open, even in the coldest weather.
