James B. Zimmerman
JimZim was born in Lincoln Illinois on August 30, 1956. He spent his childhood running the banks of the Salt, Sugar, and Kickapoo creeks in Logan County, meeting nature face to face every day. In those early years playing in the shadow of Tom and Huckelberry, he formed a permanent friendship with the natural environment.Jim received a B.S. in Recreation Administration of Eastern Illinois University, planning to seek employment with the National Park Service. But during his course of study he was introduced to the subject of Prairie Ecology, and realized that his true calling was the protection, preservation, and propogation of our rapidly vanishing Prairie landscapes.
Soon after receiving his degree, Jim started a small Prairie restoration project on the estate of Theodore W. Gray in southeastern Champaign County. Now entering its seventh year as a restoration site, this former cornfield now blooms with Prairie grasses and wildflowers.
After meeting and working with Dean Rose, a blacksmith local to Champaign County, Jim's artistic talents turned to metal work. He is currently working from his blacksmithy on the Gray property, combining art with Prairie restoration.