The fourth Saturday of September is National Public Lands Day! Local, state, and national public lands provide critical habitat for wildlife, ecosystem services like carbon storage and clean water, and recreational and spiritual opportunities that can improve human health and well being. Let’s celebrate National Public Lands Day by appreciating, experiencing, and protecting our public lands in Illinois.
Be sure to read to the end and learn about a petition you can sign to help protect the Shawnee National Forest and millions of public lands nationwide.
Appreciate
The more we learn about and appreciate our public lands, the better we can experience and protect them! Check out just a few fun facts about Illinois’ local, state, and federal public lands:
- The Forest Preserves of Cook County include over 70,000 acres and include six free nature centers, and they rely on the help of thousands of volunteers.
- Illinois’ oldest State Park, Fort Massac State Park, overlooks the Ohio River at Illinois’ southern tip and has been preserved since 1908. Pyramid State Recreation Area includes more than 19,000 acres of reclaimed coal mine land, making it Illinois’ largest state managed land. Check out these maps that feature all 63 of our state parks by region.
- The Shawnee National Forest (289,000 acres) is Illinois’ only national forest, and its biological diversity is driven by its unique location where four different Natural Divisions come together, the Missouri Ozark Hills, the Mississippi River Bottomlands, the Shawnee Hills, and the Coastal Plain.
Take some time to learn about and appreciate the public lands in your area. What unique plant or animal species exist there? What is the history of the site, and when and how did it become public?
Experience
Our public lands offer multiple opportunities for recreation, solitude, and connection with nature every day of the year. This Saturday, celebrate Public Lands Day by getting outside and enjoying hiking, birdwatching, a picnic, or day of fishing. Maybe this special day is the motivation you need to visit a site you’ve never been to before, or try a new activity!
A few places across the state have planned events this Saturday, September 26th in recognition of National Public Lands Day:
- Friends of the Shawnee is partnering with the Forest Service for a volunteer workday at Garden of the Gods Wilderness, 9:30am -12:30pm.
- Rend Lake Visitor Center is hosting the second annual “Bike Fest”, 10am – 1pm.
- Boone County Conservation District is hosting a Fall Celebration Event, 9am – 1pm.
- Palatine Park District is hosting a volunteer workday, 9am – 11am.
- The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) coordinates National Public Lands day across the US and they have an interactive map to find an event near you.
Protect
Protecting public lands can range from helping to clean up litter to removing invasive species to advocating for the funding that keeps the sites well maintained and managed. Unfortunately, federal public lands have experienced an onslaught of attacks by the Trump administration that have included efforts to sell public lands, lift extraction bans, weaken the review process that helps us understand the environmental consequences of actions on public lands, and close 57 Forest Service research stations.
Most recently, the USDA has proposed to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule and weaken the Travel Management Rule. The Roadless Rule’s protections against road building, resource extraction, and clear-cut logging extend to nearly 45 million acres nationwide and 10,666 acres of forest land in the Shawnee National Forest, while the Travel Management Rule helps ensure responsible use of motor vehicles on federal lands. Opening up areas of the Shawnee to more road construction or more motor vehicle use means the spread of invasive species, further habitat fragmentation, erosion and sedimentation into pristine streams, and possible resource extraction, as well as direct impacts to threatened and endangered species and all wildlife.
Sign PRN’s petition today urging the USDA to keep the 2001 Roadless Rule and preserve existing protections! Comments are due October 6th.
