Summer Odds and Ends
With summer in full swing, there are so many things going on that I have a hard time concentrating on one topic. So here’s an opportunity to catch up on some of the area’s latest nature rambles and publicly give thanks to some amazing people and organizations.
Museums Reopen!
Dickson Mounds Museum near Lewistown is scheduled to be open again for visitors on July 2. As you know, the State of Illinois is suffering from a real bad case of budget indigestion. The Governor and Legislature haven’t been able to agree on a budget for more than a year, and one of the casualties was that state museum sites were closed last fall. The impetus was that it would save money. So customers (tax payers and tourists with money to spend in Illinois) were locked out, while museum staff were locked in. I guess this makes sense in the minds of politicians. So now the museums are going to open under the latest short-term spending measure. You might have heard that there was going to be entry fees charged at state museum sites, but the latest news is that there will only be entry fees charged at the state museum in Springfield. Dickson Mounds entry will still be free. Since the closure, a lot of state museum employees decided to leave or retire. Lucky for those of us that visit Dickson Mounds, Dr. Michael Wiant, the Director of Dickson Mounds, was able to keep his staff in tact, but there was one person who did retire since September. Alan Harn, who has been at Dickson Mounds for 55 years had planned his retirement before the closing. I will miss seeing Alan there and his knowledge of history will be missed by staff and visitors alike. Congratulations Alan on your retirement, and “THANK YOU” for all your dedicated years of public service!
Tawny Oaks Open!
The Peoria Park District was able to open the Tawny Oaks visitor access to Singing Woods Nature Preserve on June 1. You might remember that this was a project funded through an Illinois Department of Natural Resources OSLAD Grant that was awarded in 2013. Development was almost complete when in March of 2015, the Peoria Park District was notified by the State of Illinois that they were suspending the grant. A “stop work order” was issued and the Park District waited to hear if and when funding might come through. They are still waiting some 16 months later. I guess patience is a virtue, but dang… 16 months! So rather than let a partially finished building rot in the weather, it was decided to move forward and get it operational and secure. Tawny Oaks features a visitor center with restrooms, 11 acres of restored tallgrass prairie, trails that provide access to Singing Woods Nature Preserve, and several programs for nature enthusiasts. To find out more, visit www.peoriaparks.org, or call the Tawny Oaks visitor center at 309-418-7051. Tawny Oaks is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays through the end of October.
A Funding Success!
A big hats-off to Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation (ICECF) for investing in local conservation efforts. You might remember that, in this column, we talked about Peoria Wilds, a local not-for-profit that received a Stewardship Challenge Grant from ICECF. Peoria Wilds successfully raised $7,000 so ICECF matched that amount at a 3:1 ratio. Bottom line is that Peoria Wilds now has $28,000 to do a lot of conservation work at the Peoria Park District’s Tawny Oaks and Singing Woods Nature Preserve. Also, since Peoria Wilds has been able to complete over 400 hours of volunteer work, they will receive an additional $4,000 to fund more conservation work. So let’s all give a big “THANK YOU” to Peoria Wilds and the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation for your dedication to making Central Illinois a great place to live.
Birding Hot Spot!
Forest Park Nature Center recently received generous funding from the Ennis Family Foundation to purchase and install an eBird Trail Tracker kiosk in the museum. This system ties into the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird system and allows visitor to track bird migration and identify birds by sight and song. There are a lot of birders in Central Illinois using eBird on their mobile devises. Now visitors can find out where all of the birding “hot spots” are in real-time. They can also log their sightings and become citizen scientists. A big “THANK YOU” to the Ennis Family Foundation for this wonderful update to the museum at Forest Park Nature Center.
Trail Team Thanks!
There are hundreds of thousands of trail-use hours logged by people in our parks each year. Our wooded bluffs in Forest Park, Detweiller Park, Robinson Park, Camp Wokanda and Singing Woods have over 30 miles of hiking trails. Those trails are maintained by one of the most dedicated crews of volunteers I have ever had the privilege to work with. We affectionately call them “The Trail Team” and they have logged thousands of hours each year fixing erosion, repairing bridges, building trails, leading Eagle Scout projects and removing storm damaged trees. Without them, our trails would quickly become impassible. It is a group of mostly retired folks who have a passion for our parks and a real desire to make your next hike safe and enjoyable. Most recently, they designed and built our trail access into Singing Woods Nature Preserve at Tawny Oaks. If you are on a hike, and see a crew toiling under the summer heat take a moment and give them a “THANK YOU.”