In The Spirit of Wetlands: Reviving Habitat in the Illinois River Watershed, is scheduled to be published on July 26 by the University of Illinois Press’ 3 Fields Books series.

By BUD GRIEVES

Prior to reading In The Spirit of Wetlands, I was not familiar with the term “eutierria,” which is defined as a secular meditative experience that can occur in nature when boundaries between self and the environment seem to evaporate — creating a sense of oneness with the natural world.

Although I was unfamiliar with the word, I knew immediately that it applied to me.

I was first introduced to the backwaters and marshes of the Illinois River growing up in Lacon, where hunting ducks was a way of life. As a young man, my conscious “self” took control of my life as I plunged head-first into careers in finance, business and public service.

To escape the pressures and demands of my busy life, I purchased some land along the river in Fulton County, built a home where I semi-retired, and rediscovered the joys of the natural world.

I think we all have within us a built-in sense of timing that we are at a critical juncture with our environment that society has neglected and abused over the years. Now the environment is striking back with record floods, savage storms, and unprecedented fires.

Here in the farm belt, nitrogen and phosphorous runoffs from fields lead to creeks that no longer meander but are straight ditches that end up dumping tons of sediment and poisons into our rivers.

This can be stopped, and there are ways to do it that I have discovered on my farm, largely through trial and error.

In reading In The Spirit of Wetlands, Clare Howard introduced me to the stories, and David Zalaznik captured the images of many others who experienced eutierria in their lives and are making a difference with their projects.

Turning the tide against environmental catastrophe has to be a team effort, and not everyone has the time and resources to attempt projects of the scale described in the book. But we all can do something, and I hope this book will provide inspiration for all who follow.

Bud Grieves was Mayor of Peoria from 1997-2001. He now lives in rural Banner. He is featured in In The Spirit of Wetlands.