Illinois Legislature Passes Bill Initiated by Environmental Groups When the drinking water crisis and scandal in Flint, Michigan was exposed last winter, environmental groups in Illinois decided we needed to take action to discover potential lead water contamination problems at home. To that end, we banded together and started drafting a bill. In hindsight, the […]
Army Corps Decision Halts Dakota Access Pipeline Over Tribal Lands!
Today we celebrate an important victory for the ancestral lands and water rights of the Standing Rock Sioux. By refusing to grant an easement that would have allowed Energy Transfer Partners to run the Dakota Access Pipeline under the Missouri River just upstream of the tribe’s water supply, the Army Corps of Engineers has blocked […]
Become a Monarch Ambassador
How You Can Help Save the Monarchs Not long ago, spring and summer in Illinois were marked by reappearance of clouds of orange and black wings. The Eastern Monarch butterfly was adopted as Illinois’ state insect because the entire state lies in its spring and fall migration path across the Midwest. Every Illinois school kid […]
Prairie Rivers Network 2016 Award Winners
Prairie Rivers Network (PRN) will honor Bruce Colravy, Steve Stierwalt, and a group of dedicated citizens from Southern Illinois for their work in protecting and promoting the health of Illinois rivers and wildlife at its Annual Dinner on Friday, October 21. The event will be held at the I Hotel and Conference Center, 1900 S […]
Summit Addresses Need for Illinois Monarch Butterfly Plan
Each autumn, eastern monarch butterflies return to Illinois, dotting harvest-ready fields and cornflower blue skies with their iconic, graceful orange and black as they make their long journey back to their winter home in Mexico. Over the past decade, monarchs have become a much rarer sight in Illinois and across the Midwest as eastern monarch populations have plummeted by as much as 80% by some counts. Monarch butterflies rely on various species of milkweed during their 3000 mile migration each year from Mexico across the Midwestern U.S. to Canada, reproducing in multiple generations before a final generation makes its way back south to overwinter in Mexico and begin the cycle anew. Milkweed and other native flowers that monarchs need to sustain their populations are in decline due to habitat fragmentation and aggressive weeding.
