PRESERVING NATURAL AREAS
for PEOPLE, for WILDLIFE,
FOREVER
in
EAST CENTRAL
ILLINOIS
Celebrate completion of a new trail connecting LCF's Bruce Hannon Levee Trail with Allerton Park, thanks to a collaboration between LCF, the City of Monticello, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and Allerton Park and Retreat Center. Join us Saturday, July 18, at 9 am, at the Levee Trail parking lot. RSVP to LCF's Eric Mollahan.
LCF is committed to providing opportunities to experience the synergy between art and nature. Toward that end, LCF sought out and received a $43,000 grant from the Dale and Deborah Smith Foundation. This grant will provide the support to expand and enhance the inclusion of art focused nature experiences at our preserves into 2027. Programming starts in August with "Poetry at the Preserve" and "Plant Sketching." Check our events calendar for details!
LCF Helps Local Environmental Research
LCF has stepped up collaboration with local and state organizations, providing locations, labor, or both! At Jasmine Hollow, the Illinois Natural History Survey is counting caterpillars. In Champaign water basins, LCF is helping test for phosphorus to see if water quality improves as it moves through stormwater systems. We're also helping the Illinois Department of Natural Resources document snakes at an LCF property. And we encouraged future land stewards by working with Students Consulting for Nonprofit Organization.
Last year's long summer drought left many freshwater mussels in the Sangamon River high and dry. On November 8, LCF volunteers came to the rescue at our newest property, Jasmine Hollow Land & Water Reserve. More than 300 lucky mussels were relocated to deeper waters. Photo by Melissa Records.
In both a video and a detailed document, Tetra Tech, Inc, on behalf of Prosperity Wind, relates the history of the levees that give the Bruce Hannon Levee Trail its name. The documentation project resulted from an agreement between the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office and Prosperity Wind, related to its Piatt County wind project.
Follow a unique raised trail to the Sangamon River and our floodplain forest restoration. Visit the Sangamon River Corridor Reserve near Monticello.
LCF works to ensure a future with abundant clean water by focusing on rivers, wetlands, and groundwater.
All creatures who share our Illinois home benefit from LCF's work to connect and improve natural lands and waters.
LCF offers opportunities to encounter nature nearby, inspiring wonder and a future commitment to preservation.
Coyotes, mink, busy beavers, a bobcat, and a bunch of turkeys! They've all been caught on camera at our Sangamon River Corridor Reserve.