Illinois is called the "prairie state" apparently because it was the first state European settlers encountered that had extensive areas of tallgrass prairie. In the early 1800's, 60% (22,000,000 acres) of the state had prairie vegetation, but today only 2,200 acres of high quality prairie remain and most of the remnants are less than 12 acres. Nearly the entire prairie was converted to agriculture.

The motto for the conference emphasizes that prairies in Illinois range from small remnants in pioneer cemeteries, that were never plowed and are the best representatives of historic prairie vegetation in Illinois, to landscape scale prairie restorations of 1,000s of acres, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie (US Forest Service) and the Nachusa Grasslands (The Nature Conservancy).

The Conference consisted of Field Trips, Contributed Oral Presentations, Posters, Breakout Discussion Groups, Plenary Speakers, and two Invited Oral Presentation Sessions on Landscape Scale Restorations and Grassland Birds. A wide range of topics were considered including prairie restorations and reconstructions, fire effects on grassland birds, prairie insects and other invertebrates, management methods including patch burn grazing, fire season and frequency, prairie mutualists and parasites, pollination, urban prairies, and seeds of prairie plants.