The Illinois General Assembly is considering the Natural Areas Stewardship Act (HB 2031/SB 1029) that would allow expert nonprofit organizations to help local and state government conduct needed stewardship actions on Illinois Nature Preserves. Nature preserves are permanently protected places that give us rare glimpses of what Illinois’ true nature looks like. Spread across 110,000+…
Nominations for the 2017 George and Barbara Fell Award are now being accepted for indiviuals with outstanding achievements in land conservation by The Natural Land Institute. Deadline for submissions is Friday, February 3, 2017. The award is named after George and Barbara Fell who founded the Natural Land Institute in 1958 for the protection of…
Ever struggle with finding funding for land and resource acquisitions? The Borrowing Money Boot Camp will help you learn “the art and science of borrowing money.” Presented by The Conservation Finance Network, this boot cammp is March 14-16 at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. For details. click on the link below:
The January issue of Illinois Realtor highlights the benefits of conservation easements and the organizations working to preserve more land. Dan Lobbes, director of land protection for The Conservation Foundation, and Mary Vandevord, Heartlands Conservancy president and CEO, share their views on land preservation in the article, which also mentions Prairie State Conservation Coalition. Check out the…
Did you know there were more than 47,000 visitors to Illinois land trust properties last year? Or that conservation land trusts have protected more than 230,000 acres of land in our state to date? Learn more about the important work land trusts are doing by viewing the Land Tust Alliance’s land trust census here.
The Conservation Foundation has been awarded a nearly $250,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to create and improve monarch butterfly habitat along the Fox River. The Fox Valley Monarch Corridor Project, led by The Conservation Foundation, is a collaborative partnership between 12 public and private land organizations that include: Barrington Area Conservation…
On behalf of the Illinois Audubon Society’s Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce that we have selected Dr. James Herkert as our new Executive Director. Jim will officially join us on October 17, 2016. We had a rich pool of applicants for this position, but Jim stood out because of his 25 years…
Fishers & Farmers Partnership (FFP) for the Upper Mississippi River Basin, a fish habitat partnership, is seeking project proposals to benefit aquatic habitat in Mississippi River basin streams. Federal funding may be available under the National Fish Habitat Partnership through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to fund the top ranked proposals. Priority watersheds are…
Prairie State Conservation Coalition of Illinois is happy to announce the release of I-View — a free web-based application and viewer showing, for the first time, all natural lands protected in the state of Illinois. I-View will significantly enhance the ability of conservation organizations, private and public, to do conservation throughout the state. PSCC will own,…
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources, along with partners representing agriculture, transportation or utility rights-of-way, conservation lands, urban, and educational sectors are working to develop a plan to increase monarch butterfly habitat in Illinois. A first step is to identify ongoing monarch conservation efforts so that we can better coordinate among them to create more…
