Conservation Currents

Seasonal updates on the Land Conservancy of Will County

Late-Winter, 2013

Dear Friends and Members of LCWC, Thank you for making 2012the year we launched our first membership drive a happy and productive one. Our organization was blessed with many dozens of new members supporting our organization, tours in natural landscapes, a celebratory event honoring hard-working students, a successful silent auction to benefit our work, significant individual supporters generously helping our mission, and many outings of engagement and community conversation. Most importantly, we ended the year with a purchase of land in eastern Will County - protecting this parcel of woods, permanently. Our thanks to you, members and friends of the LCWC, who pitched in to our Year-End Appeal. We exceeded our fundraising goal, doubling the amount targeted. Today, this parcel is protected thanks to your grassroots support and belief in Will County land protection. The LCWC is your local voice and source for private land protection in Will County, Il. We seek your continued support of our mission and ask that you partner with us as members, working together for an improved quality of life for todays Will County resident and the generations to come. Best,

Member Profile: Kay MacNeil

Kay joined the LCWC early in 2012, becoming one of the organizations first member supporters when we kicked off our membership drive last spring. We asked Kay a few questions about her life and conservation values:
Q: What prompted you to join our group as a member? Kay: Well, you should know that locally, Im known as the Bluebird Lady, due to all of the bluebird trails I've created on my home property and in local areas. My membership to the Land Conservancy is simple ... I believe more properties, public and private, should be set aside for wildlife. Q: How long have you lived in Will County? Kay - My husband and I raised our family here. We've been part of the Frankfort community for 37 years. Our roots are here.
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Julia
Julia Plumb
Executive Director Land Conservancy of Will County (815) 469-5292

Friends and Board members of the Land Conservancy of Will County walk our 50-acre conservation easement, Palomino Trace in Green Garden Township, Will County.

Late Winter, 2013

Mokenas Prairie Park Partnership:

Our early-winter tour of the compelling Prairie Park Preserve along Crystal Creek was informative and fun you can view some of the tour on YouTube. Type in our channel link below to see how each of us can help improve water quality throughout Will County with everyday actions. http://www.youtube.com/user/ WillConserve

LCWC Board Officers: (l to r): Karen DArcy (Board Chair), Mary Carrington (former Board Chair), Jon Mendelson (Vice-Chair) and Andrew Blackburn (Secretary), examining wetland soil.

Board Leadership at LCWC

Describing the mission of a young non-profit often sounds abstract and beyond the concern of many people, rushed with the demands of their day. So it helps to go directly to those most motivated by this mission, who work for land protection as volunteers, guiding the organization's vision and everyday workload - the LCWC Board Officers: Karen DArcy is a Professor of Chemistry at Governors State University; Mary Carrington is a Professor of Biology, also at Governors State University; Jon Mendelson is retired Professor emeritus of Environmental Biology from Governors State University and Andrew Blackburn is a Professional Wetland Scientist.
Q: Why a Land Conservancy for Will County? A: Karen D'Arcy, Board Chair:

UPCOMING TOURS:
Sat., April 27, 8:009:30:
Bird Walk with Jon Mendelson, Professor emeritus of Environmental Biology from Governors State University.

In 2005 a Land Conservancy seemed to be just what Will County needed. An organization that could help homeowners and private land owners preserve and protect significant, natural resources on their properties by establishing conservation easements. The Land Conservancy of Will County is prepared to help manage easements as well as defend conservation easements from encroachment and development. The LCWC works cooperatively with the Forest Preserve District of Will County, often protecting smaller or isolated parcels not suitable for FPDWC acquisition. My early motivation to become involved was to learn how conservation easements could help protect the high quality streams and riparian corridors in Will County. From east to west: Black Walnut, Trim, Rock, Forked, Jackson, the Aux Sable Creek are some of the highest quality streams in NE Illinois. Many flow to the south as part of the Kankakee River watershed. This aquatic heritage has survived into the 21st century and it is a wonderful challenge to promote this work with property owners to protect natural resources still in private ownership. These riparian corridors along the Will County streams seemed to be threatened back in 2005 when Will County was identified as one of the fastest growing counties in the U.S. and the real estate bubble had many developers eyeing the agricultural landscape and
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Sat., April 27, 9:30Noon:

Restoration workday with Mokenas Clean and Green crewjoin in the community effort and give back to nature on this highenergy day.

Sat., May 18, 10:0011:30:

Wildflower Walk with Mary Carrington, Biology Professor at Governors State University.

All tours meet at the intersection of Foxglove Lane and Crystal Creek Dr., blocks south of W. 187th and east of Wolf Road, in Mokena.
Call or email our office to register. Phone: 815-469-5292
landconservancyofwillcounty@gmail.com

Late Winter, 2013

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Q: Where are some of your favorite Will County natural areas? Kay - right in my own backyard! I'm a bit of an armchair activist ...I believe people can be engaged in conservation on their own property. At our home, we never spray or use lawn chemicals. I'm a fierce perennial gardener, mostly with natives - you should see the woodland garden I've worked on - in the springtime, it's beautiful. Gardening inspires me greatly and draws me closer to nature. In fact, I'm the head of the Bird and Butterfly Committee of the Garden Club of Illinois, and I even have my own cable show called "Avant Gardening" on Channel 6, in Frankfort. It's a blast to work on this show and so much fun to advocate for gardens and nature. Thank you, Kay! County-wide land conservation is a team effort. Membership starts at just $35.00 for the year. Check out our website: https://sites.google.com/site/ landconservancyofwillcounty/ for our ongoing coupon for your free native 5-gal. tree and click on the donate tab to join today. Or, call us today at (815) 469-5292 and well happily sign you up over the phone.

Bottomland woods in Thorn Creek Watershed, east Will County

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Board Leadership at LCWC

planning future housing developments in those agricultural fields and along the county's streams. The Will County Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Ordinance support conservation design subdivisions, where valuable open space and natural resources are protected and enhanced through the development process. The LCWC has an easement in a conservation development and is eager to work with other developments and communities interested in serving as good stewards of their prairies, woodlands, wetlands and streams.
Q: Isn't the Forest Preserve District of Will County, or a national group like The Nature Conservancy a sufficient resource for habitat protection and County land protection? A: Mary Carrington, Board member and former Board Chair:

An important part of our focus is protecting smaller parcels of natural areas, or "filling in the gaps" between larger parcels where organizations like forest preserve districts and the Nature Conservancy concentrate efforts. We work with private landowners and municipalities, and we often use conservation easements as a land protection tool. With a conservation easement, the landowner continues to own the land, but the easement is a legal document that preserves the land in a natural state for perpetuity. We also work with landowners in conservation developments who want to place a conservation easement on open space within their developments.
Q: How do Will County residents benefit from Land Conservation? A: Andrew Blackburn, Secretary:

There are many ways residents benefit from land conservation:

increased property values for those living on, or owning, land next to or nearby conservation areas; improved water quality and reduced extreme flooding events; decreased light and noise pollution; preserved wildlife corridors; and,
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preserved land for enjoyment and benefit of future generations.

Well be out in the community this Spring:

Look to our Facebook page, and soon-to-beviewed updated website (in April) for news on events and activities in the community. Stop over and say hello. 4/16: Univ. of St. Francis Green Week 4/25: Evening Frog Walk, Mokenas Prairie Park 4/27: Mokenas Clean and Green event 5/4: Conservation Plainfields Spring Env. Expo 5/5: Frankfort Country Market, downtown Frankfort.

The truth is, land conservation in Will County benefits not only its residents but everyone and everything that lives on this Earth.
Q: Why do you serve on the Board of the Land Conservancy of Will County - for many years you've devoted some serious time to help this organization grow. What motivates you to do this? A: Jon Mendelson, Vice Chair:

I have long been a supporter of land preservation, not simply to improve the quality of life for humans, but, equally important to me, the quality of life for all animals and plants - for all living things - with whom we share our increasingly imperiled planet. As a member of the Land Conservancy of Will County, I have a chance to be more than just an advocate for these values. The many tools available to a land conservancy: the ability to accept easements and donations of land, for example - allow me the opportunity to take an active, positive and concrete role in local land preservation efforts. We are a young organization, of necessity operating on many fronts at the same time - building our constituency as we are attempting to define our role in regional open space efforts. These are challenging tasks. But with a committed Board, a dynamic Executive Director, and a potentially good working relationship with the Forest Preserve District of Will County and other public landholding agencies, the LCWC will become a valued partner in the efforts to make our region a livable space for all our citizens.

Land Conservancy of Will County 925 Lambrecht Road, Unit A Frankfort, Il. 60423

Late Winter, 2013