Looking Ahead

Last month, OutdoorIllinois took a look at the century just past-the birth of the state parks system, market hunting, game management, fishing and forestry. This month, as we enter into a new millennium, we've asked DNR Director Brent Manning to look into his crystal ball and give us a forecast of things to come.

Education, a better land ethic, forming partnerships, the Conservation Foundation and passage of CARA are among topics high on Director Manning's list for the new millennium.

OutdoorIllinois: As we enter the 21st century, what do you see as being the biggest threat to conservation and our natural resources?

Manning: In my opinion, the biggest threat is the lack of natural resources education. I don't believe our generation was educated in natural resources to the degree we should have been. Obviously, most of us learned biology, but it was molecular biology or biology as it relates to medicine or general biology, not the biology that would teach us ecology or about our natural resources. Without this education we might not make the right decisions.

With the beginning of the new century, DNR Director Brent Manning gives his thoughts on where the agency is heading and some the problems that might lie ahead.

What can we do? Those of us who believe that changes can be made, and can be made in a positive manner, have to look at educating our kids so they can make the appropriate decisions when they become voters.

Historically, a lot of what we learned about our natural heritage was because the pioneers and people who came to this continent and forged this nation had to rely on their knowledge of the outdoors to survive. And it was extremely important that they passed this knowledge along to their kids. The Native Americans did the same thing. But somewhere this past century we lost that ethic. Aldo Leopold identified this when he said that many kids think that heat comes from the register in the corner and that food comes from the store down the street. They don't understand that both require a natural resource-fuel to heat the home and fuel for the body. These are the type of things we need to focus on.

Personally, I think we have to concentrate on the school curriculum-in grade school and high school. When I was growing up, my dad spent a lot of time with us kids-Khoury League, scouting, fishing and hunting. We didn't have a lot of money to do things, but the time he spent with us caused me to ask questions that needed answers. I think we have to fulfill that same desire in the next generation. Unfortunately, we have

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The future of our hunting and fishing heritage is linked to our land ethic, according to DNR Director Brent Manning.

more single parent families than ever before and because so many single parents are working two and three jobs, they don't spend as much time with their kids as they want. So if we are to instill the proper outdoor ethic, I believe it has to be done in the schools.

OutdoorIllinois: Illinois currently ranks 48th in public land holdings per capita. As more people recognize the need for outdoor recreation, we're going to need more public land. What can we do to help Illinois get more public land?

Manning: Since becoming director, I've been known as a land grabber, which is okay with me. The Good Lord is not manufacturing any new land, so we're not going to have tremendous opportunities in the future. At this time the most far-reaching and the best program we have is Gov. Ryan's Open Land Trust program. This makes $40 million a year available for the next four years, and is a tremendous step in the right direction. It's my wish that at least half of this money can be matched by local units of government so it's not a $40 million program, but a $60 million or even an $80 million program. That's a great step in the right direction.

Right now there's a tremendous opportunity for landowners to donate land to the state through the Illinois Conservation Foundation. This is a great opportunity for us.

And we should be looking at the abandoned coal mines in western and southern Illinois. They can provide great recreation areas. We need to be ever vigilant at taking advantage of these options. Last year we managed to obtain the Sahara coal properties-4,500 acres in southern Illinois that ultimately will provide great recreational opportunities. It's not pristine by any stretch of the imagination, but eventually it can be a phenomenal area. Plus we need to look at other innovative techniques. Arkansas, Kansas and Colorado all have programs that provide incentives to private landowners to allow for a certain amount of recreational activities-whether it's hiking, biking, mushrooming, hunting or whatever.

OutdoorIllinois: We used to see most of the land being purchased far away from the population centers, but this is not necessarily the case today. Recently we've seen the acquisition of Site M in central Illinois, Lowden-Miller on the Rock River, and the Midewin property just south of Chicago. Do you see this as a continuing trend?

Manning: Prior to this job, I lived near Chicago in one of the fastest growing areas in the state. What I found is that if you are dedicated to hunting or fishing, then you better be prepared to travel-to go long distances and to spend weekends and great numbers of dollars to enjoy those types of

A solid natural resource education is the key to instilling the proper outdoor ethic in our children.

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Our land activities have a great impact on our water resources. We have to nurture and care for our waterways.

activities. I think we need to recognize the folks living in the northeast Illinois quadrant and provide for them when opportunities arise. Lowden-Miller, the Tri-County Park area and Midewin all mean a great deal to those folks, and although these lands are more expensive than similar land down-state, we should continue to pursue those types of opportunities. Still, we can't ignore the availability of tracts that may be in southern Illinois or elsewhere in the state.

OutdoorIllinois: What's the future of reclaimed strip mine lands? Do these lands offer recreational possibilities?

Manning: They are abandoned for a reason-probably the liability and because the previous owners felt the land was worthless. Who is going to deal with it in the future? We, as the State of Illinois and the United States government, have to step in. We have to make sure the land is environmentally appropriate in the long term, and we have to think about its long-term uses, its value to recreation and what the land can contribute to society. A lot of people look at it as landscape that has been despoiled or lost, but the bottom line is that there is opportunity there as well.

OutdoorIllinois: We're seeing a decline in the percentage of hunters and anglers in relation to the population. Is this a growing trend, and if so, what can we do to turn this around?

Manning: Actually, our numbers of hunters and anglers are staying about the same, but we're losing numbers from a percentage standpoint as our population grows. But this is an alarming trend. Once again, I think this relates back to the land ethic. Traditionally, when I was growing up we would hunt on Thanksgiving morning while mom fixed dinner. I know many of my friends did the same or similar things that day.

I wonder how much that takes place any more. I would guess very little. Why? I think part of it is lack of a place to go, and part of it can be attributed to the aging of the baby boomers, which was the last strong generation of hunters and anglers.

To be able to preserve our hunting and fishing heritage, we need to reestablish that connection to the land ethic, and I think natural resources education is the way to do it.

OutdoorIllinois: Some of our lakes are becoming over-crowded, but we're seeing very little in the way of new lake construction. Is this a problem?

Manning: Illinois has a large population so there is going to be over-crowding. I'm a fisherman, so new waters to explore are wonderful. But there are tradeoffs. Can new lake construction increase recreation opportunities? You bet it can. But at what costs? Do we take prime farm land to do it? Do we take existing forest habitat to do it? Do we take prairie to do it? Those tradeoffs have to be weighed very carefully.

OutdoorIllinois: Can we reduce over-crowding with regulations?

Manning: Sure we can. I think regulations are key. I personally feel the 10-horsepower or 25-horsepower regulations are discriminatory to some people. I'd prefer a speed limit policy.

I also think that some lakes also busy and so over-crowded that we need some level of regulation, and that might be time allotment or slotting. For instance, anglers could have the lake from before sunrise to 9 a.m. and again from 4 p.m. to dark, with the water being opened up to speed boats and personal watercraft other times of the day.

OutdoorIllinois: More and more people are wanting to live on the edge, so we're seeing some natural resources destroyed by suburbia or urban sprawl. Should we be doing something about this?

Manning: What you're really talking about is regional planning or smart growth. The governor last year initiated some discussion on regional planning, and it was vehemently opposed by several associations with the idea that it was unconstitutional to try to prevent people from moving into the country. But the fact is, if we don't have

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As people move to be closer to the great outdoors, they oftentimes displace wildlife that lived there as well as sportsmen who hunted the area.

some level of planning—regional and statewide—we're going to despoil our landscape to the point where we're not going to have an agricultural-based society and we won't be able to have consumptive or other types of outdoor recreation.

A perfect example of this is along the Fox River in northern Illinois. Historically, this area has been hunted for waterfowl for years. But we've received a multitude of complaints by people who have moved into the area saying duck hunting shouldn't be allowed. They've been hunting ducks there since the Europeans arrived in this area. Yet some residents insist this should stop now because they have moved their homes into the proximity of the river. It's like the people who move next door to an airport then complain about the airplane noise. We're going to see more and more of these types of problems.

OutdoorIllinois: Do you see our work with constituencies and the forming of partnerships as being important to the future of our natural resources?

Manning: You have just hit on the key to the future of our natural resources. If we don't have constituency bases willing to work to move agendas forward for the betterment of society, we're all going to fail. When you look at the local planning committees and regional caucuses that have evolved from the Conservation Congress process and at the Pheasant Forever, the National Wild turkey and Ducks Unlimited groups-all of which have melded together for a solid natural resources front-you're seeing the essence of the future. If that fails, we fail.

OutdoorIllinois: Don't you believe that Illinois is a couple of steps ahead of a lot of other agencies and states in working with our constituencies because of Conservation Congress?

Manning: Absolutely, and this is a tribute to those who participate in the Conservation Congress process. Because of their willingness to sacrifice and negotiate, Illinois is the leader in the nation. I have heard that from many state directors, and I am really proud to be associated with those groups in Illinois that promote this type of thinking. It's the right thing to do at the right time. We just need more of it.

OutdoorIllinois: In the past 10 years, we've seen great shifts in outdoor recreation. Mountain biking has taken off, personal watercraft are becoming very popular, and we're seeing in-line skaters using linear trails. What can we expect in the future?

Manning: I don't think we, as an agency, or our constituents can guess where technology will take us or what the next trend will be. What we have to be is flexible enough and responsive enough to adjust to these changes. Again, I go back to what I was discussing before-time zoning and even geographic zoning for appropriate times of usage. Not all things can take place at all times at all sites.

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We have to be flexible enough and responsive enough to adjust to change, says DNR Director Manning.

OutdoorIllinois: If there is one piece of Federal legislation DNR deems important, it would probably be the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA). How important is this legislation to DNR's future?

Manning: The passage of CARA can begin to address all those things we've discussed as being problems, beginning with natural resource education and stewardship of our lands. It has tentacles into all the problems. People are going to say, 'well, it's just additional monies.' Yes, it is additional monies, but it is monies that are targeted to the right areas. The leading issue in the past three Conservation Congresses has been natural resources education, and we've never had the money to address this properly. CARA would give us those dollars.

And it's a fair-share bill. It's based on land base and population allocation. Because of Lake Michigan, Illinois is considered a coastal state, so we'll get some money for coastal reparation on Lake Michigan. And Land and Water Conservation funds would really benefit in the acquisition of lands.

OutdoorIllinois: What is the importance of the Conservation Foundation to DNR's future?

Manning: Before coming to DNR, I was a fund-raiser, so I know you have to address concerns that people put at the top of their priority list. Raising money for government is something that is extremely difficult unless people have desires and designs to set aside or preserve or maintain areas that are important to them. If people are interested in preserving an area now, they can give us money through the Foundation for picnic shelters or parking lots or picnic tables and they will be able to specifically designate their dollars to a project. Their dollars aren't lost into the great black hole of government. There are also people who have lands they'd like to donate to DNR in exchange for tax benefits. That is something we can now do. It's a real win-win proposition.

OutdoorIllinois: Are we ready for the next millennium?

Manning: The next 100 years is going to provide for a tremendous amount of growth and excitement. I think we are becoming better stewards of our environment.

We're starting to learn more about what it takes to care for our environment. When you look where we started in the 20th century-with the woodduck population nearly gone, antelope nearing extinction, white-tail not being found in the state, the wild turkey gone, then you see where we've traveled through the century. We saw the loss of raptors. The bald eagle was almost lost. But we're getting better, and we're seeing these things turned around.

Now we need to focus and concentrate our efforts on issues that have great societal benefits. Our drinking water will be a problem in the future, our mode of transportation on the Illinois and Mississipppi rivers will be a problem, and it's because of our activities on the landscape. We have to find a way to encourage the landowner to be able to nurture and care for those rivers in the best way possible. And we can do that. Our track record shows that when times have gotten tough with any particular species or resource, we've risen to the occasion and been successful. We have to continue to do that.

We have to be able to forecast the problems as well. Fortunately, we have the surveys that are really providing us with the kind of information that allows us to do that. I think we're focused, we're determined and we're sitting in a pretty good seat right now so we can do better in the future.

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