Books seldom sell themselves. Especially if you write a biography of an important but little known conservation leader.
Fortunately, I’ve been having a great time barnstorming the state on my book tour, preaching the gospel of George Fell. Born in Rockford, Illinois, he was about as unlikely a conservation hero as you can imagine — no pedigree, no job, no money, no connections, no experience. And yet, through sheer tenacity, he protected more land in Illinois than anyone before or since. More importantly, he was the driving force behind the establishment of The Nature Conservancy, the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission and other powerful engines of conservation that will protect even more lands far into the future.
Another thing I love about the book tour is meeting the conservation heroes of today — those who build upon Fell’s legacy to protect the lands they love.
This past weekend, my wife, Susan, and I traveled to the Drifltess Area of northwest Illinois to give a talk to the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation. What a great group of folks. Executive director Steve Barg gave some introductory remarks about JDCF, including the fact that since its founding in 1993 it has protected nearly 7,000 acres of land.
After my “revival tent sermon” about George Fell, my wife and I joined the staff, board and supporters for a country supper of brats, sauerkraut, and cheddar beer soup. In addition to the delicious food, we relished learning about the different ways folks help preserve and celebrate the lands they love — as donors, as volunteers, as nature photographers, artists and writers, and by placing conservation easements on their own lands.
The next day, Steve treated Susan and I to a tour of Casper Bluff Land and Water Reserve. Whereas only the highest quality natural lands may be dedicated as Illinois Nature Preserves, areas that harbor significant natural and cultural heritage may be dedicated as Land and Water Reserves. Either way, these formal dedications by the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission afford and exceptional level of protection.
Casper Bluff is a stand out reserve both for its panoramic views of the Mississippi River and its high concentration of effigy mounds from the middle to late Woodland Society of Native Americans, circa A.D. 700 to A.D. 1,000. Among the protected effigies is the last, intact bird or thunderbird with a wingspan of 216 feet.
JDCF does a terrific job not only protecting important sites, but providing rich interpretive signage. For instance, at Wapello Land and Water Reserve — a sacred site for two late Woodland cultures — I learned that Chief Wapello was among the last Fox chieftains to resist selling any more ancestral lands in the Driftless area. I learned, too, that the original name for Hanover — the town in which the reserve is located — was Wapello.
On the last day of our three-day weekend, Susan and I continued our quest to visit all 400+ Illinois Nature Preserves. There are at least three in Jo Daviess County.
Hanover Bluff was the first to be dedicated in the county, in 1987. It was too wet and muddy to climb the steep slopes up to the aptly-named “goat prairies” tucked amid the oak woodland communities, but we did manage to catch a glimpse of the towering bluffs.
Wards Grove is described as “a large forested island between extensive rowcrop areas to the east and forest areas to the west. Its large size, unbroken canopy, mature understory and position with respect to other regional forested areas, make Wards Grove a very valuable site for area sensitive bird species.”
Last on our list was Apple River Canyon. Most folks know Apple River Canyon as a popular state park. What most don’t know is that there are dedicated Nature Preserves within many of our state, county, and municipal parks, including Apple River. This assures that the most ecologically sensitive areas of the parks have the extra level of protection they need. Not surprisingly, then, there are no established trails in the Apple River Canyon Nature Preserve. But keep an eye out for the distinctive white triangle signs for a glimpse of the very best of the best nature in all of Jo Daviess County.
All in all, there are 
But first things first. Receiving an Outstanding Achievement Award for scholarly publications from the 
Afterward, my wife and I took advantage of the perfect spring weather and spent the afternoon in the only dedicated Illinois Nature Preserve in all of Sangamon County.
The forest floor was filled with spring ephemerals, including phlox, trillium and buttercup and may apples, to name a few. (The Park District might do well to engage a few Scout troops to pull up invasive 
Even more impressive was the number of birds we saw. Carpenter Park is home to at least 82 bird species. We didn’t see quite that many, but it was a joy to spy several red-head woodpeckers, Carolina wrens, many different kinds of warblers, and a
Heroes comes in all different shapes and sizes. Abraham Lincoln was a hero of epic proportions for many things, including keeping the country from being divided. George Fell was a hero in his own right, keeping the the last remnants of our ecological heritage — the prairies, woodlands and wetlands of the Prairie State — from being destroyed.
Come November, there’s not much color left in a prairie. A last splash of yellow, perhaps, in a few lingering coreopsis petals or a stubborn spring of goldenrod. Nonetheless, on my first visit to 
To learn just how special, all you have to do is read the signs. Of the nearly 50 nature preserves I’ve visited this year, perhaps only 
I also learned from the signage that in the 1980s, about a third of the site was ruined by illegal dumping. That’s how we’ve lost so much of our natural land. For some, the last vestiges of our native prairies, wetlands and woodlands are not oases of biodiversity and beauty, they are merely convenient places to dump garbage. But in this instance, someone cared enough to undo the damage, to remove the equivalent of a thousand dump trucks of trash. Someone cared enough to use seeds gathered from the rest of the site to begin restoring the dump site back to its prairie glory. Someone cared enough to work with the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission to get the site dedicated in 1994 as an official Illinois Nature Preserve, providing permanent protection for the site.
Today was a toss-up as to which was more fun — talking to folks about the George Fell biography or taking a guided tour of one of the natural areas that George protected first by buying it and then designating it as an Illinois Nature Preserve: 
This past March, Susan and I visited the site with Jerry Paulson, former executive director of NLI, who worked many years with George. We were too early see pasque flowers — one of the first bloomers on the gravel ridge prairie. And by the time I was able to return in July, the pasque flowers long since had gone to seed.
Fittingly, Liberty Prairie Reserve is anchored by 
So, too, am I OK with the fact that the main entrance to 
Susan and I recently enjoyed an Illinois Nature Preserve-alooza while getting a good workout. Pedaling our bikes along the Old Plank Road Trail, we cruised through Old Plank Road Prairie and Dewey Helmick Nature Preserves. The third site was the Butterfield Creek Headwaters Land and Water Reserve. A few weeks later, we returned to the trail and took the spur to Hickory Creek Barrens Nature Preserve.
It took more than 20 years to acquire the right of way, raise funds and overcome certain local opposition, but in 1997 the first segment of the Old Plank Road Trail was opened to the public. At the ribbon cutting in 1997, 
That same year, the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission named one of the two new nature preserves in his honor. Dewey Helmick Nature Preserve and Old Plank Road Nature Preserve are prototypical railroad prairies. They survived because they remained relatively untouched since the rails were laid more than a century and a half ago — aside from periodic fires set by sparks from passing trains. But that was a good thing, since prairies are dependent upon fire to keep their soils healthy and to keep invasive trees and shrubs from encroaching.
preserve. More than a quarter of it — 575 acres — was dedicated in 1998 as the 
The online history also tells how the other man for whom the site is partly named — Mel Hoff — was appointed the Volunteer Steward in 1982 and formed the West Chicago Prairie Stewardship Group. It took 24 years of sweat equity to remove invasive species, abandoned cars and all kinds of other debris. But eventually, the diverse site — containing freshwater marsh, mesic silt loam savanna, and at least three different kinds of prairie communities — returned to health and was designated as the Truitt Hoff Nature Preserve in 2006.
At the trailhead, the stewardship group had posted its most recent newsletter, that helped me better see and understand the site. Out in the field, I found brush piles, evidence of the clearing reported in the newsletter. I also encountered lusher grasses yet fewer wildflowers than anticipated, which the newsletter chalked up to a wet spring.
The grasses were so dense and lush, in fact, that they all but obscured the narrow footpaths, which reminded me of a question raised at the annual luncheon — about public access to nature preserves. I acknowledged that George Fell was more of a nature-for-nature’s-sake kind of guy. Whereas most of his Illinois Nature Preserves Commissioners preferred wider, more inviting trails to encourage people to explore nature, George was adamant that trails be kept to a minimum, and that visitors should walk single file, like the “Indians” used to do.
