One of the most cherished parks in central Illinois was owned for nearly 70 years by the private Forest Park Foundation under the leadership of three generations of the Rutherford family. As the foundation began to wind down operations, it…
To know the Chinquapin Oak is to know something about our region’s ecological history and our own ecological geneology. Chinquapins are hallmark trees of the Central Illinois River Bluff. Slow growing with dense wood and a gray-brown bark, the tree…
It wouldn’t be spring without the flush of new, green growth that happens each year in our woods and prairies of Central Illinois. There is that magical time, before the trees have fully leafed out, when sunlight streams through the…
BY CLARE HOWARD Mike Miller stood at the bottom of a ravine 25 feet deep off High Point Terrace and shook his head. The crevasse was growing with every rainfall and ripping out trees, vegetation and rocks in its path.…
May has finally arrived! The overwintering patience of the many a “cabin fever” shut-in has paid off with an April full of bluebells, birdfoot-violets and hoary puccoon flowers. Now May is upon us and new flowers will soon greet those…
One of the first Peoria Park District conservation areas I visited outside of Forest Park Nature Center was a large woodland off of Singing Woods Road. Access was difficult and there wasn’t even a place to park. Since that first…
The Peoria Park District’s Forest Park Nature Center will host a Nature Art Series, special art projects for children ages 5 to 10, during the month of June. All classes are from 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. Nature Art Series projects…
Bird Walk at FPNC on April 10th at 7:30 a.m. – Search for spring migrants and resident birds of Forest Park with a guide from the Nature Center or Peoria Audubon. Bring your binoculars. Ages 10 and up. Donations requested.…
