This Team Is a Winner
Conservation 2000 creates a unique partnership to conserve and manage Illinois' natural resources
BY JOHN ALLEN

What makes a team successful? Good players, smart coaches, enlightened ownership and up-to-date practice and playing facilities all have a role, but many reams that have them still aren't successful. They don't always win.

A successful team has something that's intangible: a common focus on a goal and the willingness to work together to overcome any and all obstacles to attain that goal.

Illinois has such a team, but it's not the Bears, Cubs, Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks, Illini or Salukis. Our team is called Conservation 2000, and to borrow another sports metaphor, it appears to have the makings of a "dynasty."

Known as C2000, the team was created in 1995 by then-Gov. Jim Edgar and the members of the 89th General Assembly in response to recommendations from the first Conservation Congress and the Governor's Water Resources and Land Use Priorities Task Force. Using data garnered by the Critical Trends Assessment Project (CTAP), these advisory bodies recognized that although more than 90 percent of state land is privately owned and more than 75 percent is farmland, Illinois is rich in natural resources that need to be protected.

C2000 pools the expertise of three state agencies, private, public and corporate landowners, scientists and volunteers in a broad-based, long-term effort to conserve and manage Illinois' natural resources. Originally a six-year, $100 million initiative, C2000 has been so successful and has generated so much enthusiasm that the Legislature last year extended its life through 2009.

"The way C2000 is designed now isn't necessarily the way we thought it would be five years ago," said Tom Flattery, director of DNR's Office of Realty and Environmental Planning, which directs the Department's C2000 efforts. "It's been a learning experience, but we went in knowing we'd have to be flexible in the design and implementation of the program. When we first started we thought there would be 10 Local Partnership Councils. Now there are 30."

The Stream bank Stabilization Program is an important part of the C2000 effort.

LPCs are part of the Ecosystems Program, one of nine components of C2000. The other eight and the state agencies that administer them are: Ecosystem Monitoring Program (Department of Natural Resources); Natural Resources Information Network (DNR); Review of Illinois Water Law (DNR); Illinois Clean Lakes Program (Environmental Protection Agency); Conservation Practices Cost-Share Program (Department of Agriculture); Streambank Stabilization and Restoration Program (DOA); Sustainable Agriculture Grants Program (DOA); and Soil and Water Conser-

Illinois Parks and Recreation * March/April 2000 * 47

vation District Program Development (DOA).

The 1,100 RiverWatch volunteers have monitored more than 600 sites since the program began.

Depending on their purpose, the components are further subdivided into numerous smaller programs. Also, some of the components overlap, allowing the aforementioned pooling of state agency expertise.

C2000 is basically a three-phase program: identifying areas that need preserving and/or restoring; determining what actions are necessary to affect that preservation or restoration; and following up with monitoring to make sure the actions are having the desired effect. Most of the programs are voluntary, locally organized and based on incentives, not state mandates.

Like football, C2000 appears complicated at first glance, but is more readily understood when broken down into its component pieces.

The Ecosystems Program
CTAP identified 30 "Resource Rich Areas" scattered across the state that were large enough to have a properly functioning ecosystem, had potential for large-scale preservation or restoration, contained good examples of native plant and animal communities, and had the types of habitat that are becoming rare in Illinois.

The Ecosystems Program provides grant funds and technical support to the 30 Ecosystem Partnerships that have formed around watershed boundaries covering more than 65 percent of the total land in Illinois. Partnerships are comprised of public, private and corporate landowners, recreation and conservation interest groups, local elected officials, businesses and others interested in preservation. Some partnerships have as few as 30 members, while others have more than 600.

Since the program began, the partnerships have received more than $10.7 million in C2000 grants to fund nearly 400 projects for habitat protection or restoration, land acquisitions, cost-shares or easements that protect or restore habitat, scientific research and educational outreach programs.

"The partnerships we've developed are this program's strongest point," Flattery said. "We're working together, not force feeding anyone. These landowners are often putting their own money into the program as a match, which shows they're good stewards of the land."

Ecosystem Monitoring Program
The Ecosystem Monitoring Program pairs professional scientists from DNR with private citizens to keep track of changes in the state's landscape.

Five DNR field biologists are monitoring 150 randomly selected forest, grassland, wetland and stream habitats across the state to establish long-term data sets. They visit 30 sites per year for five years, returning to the original 30 in the sixth year. The goal is to determine what changes have been taking place in the landscape over a long term.

A second part of this program is the Illinois EcoWatch Network, which consists of hundreds of volunteers, high school science teachers and their students monitoring rivers and forests, and soon, prairies and wetlands.

Called "Citizen Scientists," these volunteers receive 6-8 hours of training in monitoring techniques, with follow-up practice and review sessions scheduled periodically throughout the year.

RiverWatch is the oldest of these programs, originally established in 1993. Between May 1 and June 30 each year, the volunteers monitor a specific area of an assigned stream or river in search of 33 organisms, mostly aquatic insects, mussels, snails, clams and worms, that give an indication of the relative health of the waterway. They also record the depth, width, temperature, turbidity and velocity of the water, as well as the conditions they see along the banks.

Established in 1996, ForestWatch teaches its volunteers to identify and measure trees, monitor invasive shrubs, assess foliage density, look for signs of insect and disease infestations, and note the presence and abundance of native and non-native species in the ground layer. Monitoring is conducted twice yearly, once between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30, and again in April and May the following year.

About 550 volunteers have monitored more than 100 sites during the last two years.

Two other EcoWatch programs, PrairieWatch and WetlandWatch, are currently on hold due to a cut in federal Americorps funds, which had been used to pay the people who train the volunteers.

Review of Illinois Water Law
A small but important component of the DNR's C2000 domain is the review of Illinois' water laws. The Water Resources and Land Use Priorities Task Force concluded that the state's water laws were confusing and outdated and recommended they be rewritten. Under the auspices of DNR's Office of Water Resources, a team of experts from Planning and Management Consultants of Carbondale studied the laws and sent the results to the Southern Illinois University School of Law, which is preparing recommendations on how they should be reorganized. The intent is not to change the statutes, but to bring them together in a more organized manner. DNR also is considering legislative initiatives

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concerning in-stream flow protections; to strengthen the state's drought emergency response powers; and to revise ground water quantity laws.

Illinois Clean Lakes Program
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency administers the Clean Lakes Program which uses both professionals and volunteers to manage and monitor the state's 3, 000 inland lakes and 84, 000 ponds. The program offers monitoring and research, technical assistance, educational assistance and financial incentives to lake owners in its efforts to improve water quality and enhance lake usage.

Since 1996, the EPA has funded detailed studies on 15 lakes and awarded grants for six protection/restoration projects on those lakes at a total cost of $2.1 million. Seventeen bodies of water identified as "priority lakes" (high-quality recreation or aquatic resources and/or lakes with multiple uses) have received grant funds to control shoreline erosion or install aeration systems.

A Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program in existence since 1981 utilizes private citizens to measure water clarity on about 200 lakes per year. They check three sites per lake twice a month from April to October to document changes in water transparency. They also look for zebra mussel infestations and take water samples that are analyzed at EPA labs for the presence of ammonia, nitrates, phosphorus, chlorophyll and suspended solids.

Volunteers check for infestations of zebra mussels.

EPA's educational efforts under C2000 include the Lake Education Assistance Program, in which grants of up to $500 are awarded to schools and not-for-profit organizations to fund educational field trips for teachers and students and attendance at workshops and seminars for teachers and lake managers.

The agency also supplies the activity guides promoting awareness and appreciation of water resources for Project WET, a national water education program for teachers in grades K-12.

Conservation Practices Cost-Share Program
The Conservation Practices Cost-Share Program encourages farming practices that reduce soil loss. Farmers apply through their local Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) for C2000 matching grant funds to install terraces, filter strips, grass waterways, grade stabilization structures, cover crops, no-till planting systems, water and sediment control basins or any of six other practices that reduce erosion. Landowners receiving funding agree to continue the conservation practice for a minimum of 10 years.

Streambank Stabilization and Restoration Program
The Streambank Stabilization and Restoration Program helps landowners control shoreline erosion through vegetation and bio-engineering. The DOA, local SWCDs and the NRCS are partners in the program that provides both cost-share and demonstration project funds to sites meeting strict eligibility criteria.

Landowners applying for Streambank stabilization funds must be sponsored by the local SWCD and agree to continue the program for a minimum of 10 years.

Sustainable Agriculture Grants Program
The Sustainable Agriculture Grants Program offers funding for research, education and demonstration projects that balance economic and environmental concerns. Such projects are designed to show farmers how to grow crops profitably while causing the least harm to the environment.

Soil and Water Conservation District Grants
Local SWCDs provide a variety of services to landowners, including technical assistance in soil conservation, preservation of water quality, wetlands management, flood control and conservation education. The grants program assists landowners in this work by providing funds that offset operating expenses.

Conservation 2000 has been a success because it involves thousands of Illinoisans working together at the grass-roots level to preserve, restore and manage this state's natural resources. It's a new concept, one that other states will probably try to emulate as they attempt to build their own winning teams. 

JOHN ALLEN
is a staff writer for OutdoorIllinois, a publication of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. This article is reprinted with permission from the February 2000 issue of OutdoorIllinois.

Illinois Natural Resources Information Network
The Illinois Natural Resources Information Network is a computer bulletin board that makes natural resources information available to citizens, educational institutions, policy makers and program managers. Included in this Web site are more detailed descriptions of CTAP, C2000, EcoWatch, DNR's Division of Education, the state's ecology and Illinois ecosystems. INRIN can be accessed at http://dnr.state.il.us/orep/inrin/index.htm. Information on C2000 is available from the following sources: DNR, 217.782.7940; EPA, 217.782.3362; and DOA, 217.782.6297.

Illinois Parks and Recreation * March/April 2000 * 49

Bobcats Thriving in Illinois

Illinois' bobcat population has gone from threatened to thriving, according to a story by Paula Davenport of Southern Illinois University's Office of Public Affairs. Davenport's story is based on a study by wildlife experts at SIU's Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory.

"Bobcats are even more abundant and far healthier than we suspected," says Alan Woolf, director of the laboratory. "It's surprising how well they're doing in a human-dominated landscape."

"Bobcat sightings in the northern portion of Illinois went from 70 in 1992 to 216 in 1998. Sightings in the state's southern third were even higher, going from 98 in 1992 to 425 in 1998. Although the figures convinced state officials to remove bobcats, from Illinois' threatened species list in 1999, hunting, trapping and the keeping of bobcats is still prohibited.

Woolf says such protections, enacted in 1972, are helping bobcats rebound in a big way.

During the study, funding which was funded by the Department of Natural Resources' federal aid to wildlife restoration dollars, Woolf and his staff staked out a 400-square-mile area in Union and Jackson counties, where bobcats are abundant. With the help of more than 50 landowners and 15 volunteer trappers, cages were set out and foothold traps baited with road kill. Researchers then waited for elusive bobcats to show up. Captured bobcats were weighed, measured and checked for health problems.

Of the 99 bobcats captured, 76 were fitted with radio collars, giving scientists a chance to track their movements and learn more about their lifestyles over a two-year period.

A year's tracking data shows 80 percent of the bobcats survived. Of the 14 fatalities, seven deaths involved collisions with autos, two with trains, two in traps, two by unknown causes and one by a natural cause.

Other finds revealed that young male bobcats stick close to mom for the first year or two. Then they wander off and establish individual territories. Four of five young males moved to new territories more than 70 miles away from where they were born. Most adult bobcats stay within their established home ranges. Only three bobcats moved to new digs, probably because a neighbor died or a more dominant individual displaced them.

Researchers are now trying to learn the various landscape components that make for the best bobcat habitat.

That knowledge will lead to better estimates of bobcat numbers throughout Illinois and will help scientists better predict how development, farming and other land uses affect populations.

"In the early '80s, bobcats were virtually thought to be absent from the agricultural Midwest," says Woolf. "This is a critter that's rebounded pretty well. And they don't need a lot from us. They just need a little bit of habitat." 

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DNR Budget Targets Acquisition, Education
Gov. George H. Ryan has proposed a Fiscal Year 2001 budget of $607.7 million for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, including $40 million for the second year of a $160 million, four-year initiative to protect the state's most precious natural areas.

"The Illinois Open Land Trust is significantly increasing the state's ability to set aside land for natural resource protection and outdoor recreation for our children and our children's children," Ryan said. "The DNR budget puts a strong focus on natural resource protection, enhancement and education."

The state already has acquired an additional 1,662 acres of open space through the program. A significant portion of the annual funding is awarded to local communities in grants to acquire open space.

Communities statewide will also benefit from a $3.3 million increase to $21 million for the Open Space Land Acquisition and Development program, which provides matching grants to acquire and develop local parks. This popular program has funded nearly 800 local park projects since it was initiated in 1986.

The Department's proposed operating budget of $217.1 million includes $123.3 million in General Funds, an $11 million increase from the current year.

The fiscal 2001 budget recommendation includes $1.8 million for the Department to operate Wildlife Prairie Park, a 1,273-acre facility in Peoria County. In addition to operating the park, the site will house a new conservation education center—a teacher training facility designed to expand natural resource education programs in Illinois schools.

Proposed funding of $627,500 will support The Environment and Nature Training Institute for Conservation Education, or ENTICE Program, at Wildlife Prairie Park. The program will advance teacher development in the sciences, help strengthen science education in the schools and enhance informal natural resource education for the general public.

"Education is a top priority of my administration," the Governor said. "This program will provide teachers with the tools they need to incorporate natural resource education into the daily curriculum, and in turn, strengthen and expand science education in the schools."

The recommended budget also includes $500,000 for the EcoWatch program. The program trains volunteer "citizen scientists" and students to help monitor the condition of the natural resources in the state and provides hands-on conservation education. The UrbanWatch program is being developed through a joint effort of DNR and Chicago's Field Museum. EcoWatch now encompasses more than 1,500 trained volunteers, 250 science teachers and thousands of students.

In fiscal year 2001, $10 million will be dedicated to the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, a multi-year, $500 million federal-state program designed to reduce soil erosion, improve habitat and restore wetlands along the most environmentally sensitive acres in the Illinois River Watershed.

More than 32,000 acres of Illinois River flood plain land have been restored and another 8,700 acres of existing habitat have been permanently protected under the program.

About $11.7 million in new funds is budgeted for Conservation 2000, a multi-agency program that continues to preserve and enhance wildlife habitats while providing new opportunities for outdoor recreation.

The recommended capital budget includes $10 million to fund the third year of a five-year, $50 million commitment to improve museums across the state. The budget also provides $5 million for technology grants to museums to bring their collections to the classroom.

The budget recommendation includes $40.7 million for various construction projects at sites statewide, including $4.3 million to fund the authentic reconstruction of the American Fort at Fort Massac State Park—Illinois' first state park—and $1.1 million to rehabilitate and replace playground equipment at several sites throughout the park system.

The proposed budget includes $14 million in capital funds for waterway improvements, including $3.6 million for reconstruction of Batavia Dam in Kane County, $3 million for the third phase of channel construction of Hickory Springs Creek flood control in Joliet, $3 million for Lake Michigan shoreline protection and other flood-control projects.

Illinois Parks and Recreation * March/April 2000 * 51

OLT Grant Applications Available
Applications are now available for the Open Land Trust (OLT) grant program, Gov. George H. Ryan's landmark initiative to acquire and protect open space for future generations.

The program provides grants to eligible local governments to protect open space, wildlife habitat, watersheds, greenways and natural areas, and to provide enhanced outdoor recreational opportunities.

The grants, administered by the Department of Natural Resources, provide up to 50 percent state funding assistance for approved property acquisition projects. The maximum grant award for a single project is $2 million.

Local project sponsors may be any unit of local government with statutory authority to acquire, develop and maintain land for public outdoor, natural resource related recreation.

Individuals and organizations involved in natural resource and open space conservation can participate in partnership with eligible local government agencies on Open Land Trust grant applications.

Grants are awarded on a competitive basis and are paid as reimbursements to local sponsors. Property may be acquired only from willing sellers.

Land acquired through the program must be maintained in perpetuity for public open space and natural resource recreation purposes through the signing of a conservation easement. Allowable activities may include bird-watching and wildlife viewing, boating, fishing, hunting, hiking, bicycling, horseback riding and primitive camping.

Applications will be evaluated based on the project's ability to meet statewide and local recreation and conservation needs, site characteristics and the applicant's past performance on DNR grant projects.

The application deadline for the first round of the Open Land Trust grant program is April 3. For more information, contact the DNR Division of Grant Administration, 524 S. Second St., Springfield, IL 62701-1787, or call 217.782.7481. 

Becker Moves To Realty and Environmental Planning Office
Carl Becker has been named assistant director of the Office of Realty and Environmental Planning. Becker, 50, Petersburg, has served as chief of the Division of Natural Heritage since 1986. He began his career with the State of Illinois in 1978 as the executive director of the Endangered Species Protection Board. In 1980 he was named Natural Heritage Section manager in the Division of Forest Resources and Natural Heritage.

Becker received his BS degree in biology from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and his MS in zoology from Eastern Michigan University. Following college, he joined NALCO Environmental Sciences in 1973, where he served as project leader and associate scientist.

Becker is a member of the Natural Areas Association and has served on the association's board of directors since 1995 and was elected its president in 1999. He is also a member of the American Ornithologists; Union, American Society of Mammologists, International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies-Wildlife Diversity Committee, Society for Conservation Biology, The Wildlife Society and the Wilson Ornithological Society.

He co-chairs the Department's efforts to pass the Conservation and Reinvestment Act in Congress. He also serves as chairman of the Menard County Zoning Board of Appeals.

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