Shawnee National Forest Conservation Act of 2025

This bill protects parts of the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. It creates a new Camp Hutchins Wilderness (about 750 acres), where land is kept wild and a former forest road (Forest Road 211) is closed to cars and kept as a hiking trail up the Hutchins Creek Corridor . It also bars new mining and energy leasing on these protected federal lands . The bill sets up three “Special Management Areas” to care for nature and allow research: Camp Hutchins (about 2,953 acres), Ripple Hollow (about 3,445 acres), and Burke Branch (about 6,310 acres) .

In these Special Management Areas, the Forest Service must write a management plan within three years, limit activities to those that fit conservation goals, and can use tools like prescribed fire and, when needed, equipment such as chainsaws or drones to control fire, disease, or invasive species. Most motorized vehicle use and commercial logging are not allowed, except for safety or restoration work; some roads will be removed, with access kept to trailheads and private inholdings. Hunting is allowed under Illinois rules, but trapping is not, and hunters cannot drive motorized vehicles within these areas. The agency will post yearly updates on progress so the public can track results .

• Who is affected: hikers, hunters, local communities, scientists, and volunteers using or studying the Shawnee National Forest .
• What changes: more land is protected; a road becomes a hiking trail; limits on motor vehicles, mining, and logging; added support for restoration and research; public updates each year .
• When: protections start at enactment; the management plan is due within three years .