Only rarely do I find the time or inclination to let you know what we have accomplished. One of the curses of a business like this is we never have time to recline and enjoy our handiwork, We are invariably rushing to the next contract, to the next meeting. As my grandmother often said, “there is no rest for the wicked” (which, to this date, I still do not understand). We are proud of all of our projects, and here are a select few that are in the headlines at the moment.
Illinois
Illinois River Road Scenic Byway
A few weeks ago I wrote on our weblog about the Illinois River Road Scenic Byway. This byway runs along the Illinois River from (roughly speaking) Starved Rock State Park to the Nature Conservancy’s Emiquon sanctuary and Havana.
Anaise Berry is the Director for the Illinois River Road National Scenic Byway, and this morning she sent me the following:
The Illinois River Road National Scenic Byway’s website had 7,790 visitors during the month of September, a 25% increase over the average number of monthly visitors – a new high for the two-year old website. Although visits to the Byway website have been trending steadily upward, this boost likely resulted from a lengthy feature article about traveling the Illinois River Road, which appears in the October 2010 issue of Midwest Living® Magazine.
The Midwest Living® article has generated considerable interest in the Byway region, stretching from Ottawa to Havana, also resulting in a record number of requests for information about the region. These requests for visitor information are coming not only from Chicago area residents, but also from Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Iowa. This kind of attention puts all of our Byway Gateway, Portal and Supporting Communities in the “visitor spotlight,” showcasing this very special region to potential visitors.
With the Calendar of Events being the most frequently visited page on the website, this is a great time for communities, sites and organizations to upload events and goings-on scheduled for this Fall, Winter and next Spring! Byway travelers are looking for authentic experiences along their journey, and will plan their itineraries based upon events and sites in the various Byway communities. Festivals, cultural events and eagle watching are just a sampling of the events are visitors want to explore.
Hackmatack
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced their decision to proceed with a study to determine the feasibility of establishing a Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge in the bi-state region of southeastern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois. Long known as an ecological hotspot, the region is home to many rare bird, fish, freshwater mussel and plant species, as well as some of the world’s most globally imperiled natural communities, including tall grass prairie and oak savanna. Fermata, under contract to Openlands and the Trust for Public Land, developed a viability study for this proposed refuge. This effort has received unflagging support from the Friends of Hackmatack, and nowhere did their support count more than in the four public meetings held by the USFWS to discuss the refuge. We are elated to see that USFWS continue on with this important project.
Pennsylvania
