Highlights & Happenings

HLC Frog Hike with SIUE Biologist Dr. Rick Essner

HLC Frog Hike with SIUE Biologist Dr. Rick Essner

Poag Sand Prairie

HIKERS EXPLORE frogs & fireflies

HLC Firefly Hike with SIUE Entomologist Dr. Jake Williams

Our monthly hiking club events have been some of our most attended. In March, we hosted a Frog Hike at Poag Sand Prairie, with a talk by SIUE biologist Dr. Rick Essner. Attendees observed an endangered Illinois Chorus Frog up close, and a few of the younger attendees even dared to catch a few frogs from the pond!

We brought our Watershed Adventures and Discovery Experiences (WADE) series back in June for another Discover a Wetland! Firefly Hike at Arlington Wetlands. SIUE entomologist, Dr. Jake Williams, gave a great talk on fireflies and other insects and brought along blacklights to see a few species up close!

We are excited to continue offering adventures throughout the year. Here are some of our upcoming hikes and adventures.You can always find more information on the events page of our website.

August

Discover a River! Kayaking day trip on a river in the region

September

WADE: Discover a Stream! Stream monitoring at Signal Hill

October

WADE: Discover a Pond! Plus, tree planting at Arlington Wetlands

November

Buds and Bark Winter Tree ID at Willoughby Farm

December

Jingle Hike Challenge (Thanksgiving Day to New Year‘s Day)

Summer Adventures

WADE: DISCOVER THE WATER CYCLE

Want to explore the water cycle with HLC‘s outdoor experience program WADE? We have several events to introduce people to the ecosystems around them by visiting a stream, a pond, a wetland and a river. Check out heartlandsconservancy.org/events-calendar/ for event updates.

HLC is on the path to hitting 400 volunteer hours to earn $4,000 in stewardship funds for Arlington Wetlands!

Every volunteer helps.

Are you up for the challenge?

https://heartlandsconservancy. org/volunteer/

Arlington Wetlands Prescribed Burning

UPDATE

ARLINGTON WETLANDS

Have you visited Arlington Wetlands lately?

The site is named after its large wetland in Pontoon Beach on Arlington Drive. As you cross the floating boardwalk, you’ll eventually reach a restored sand prairie and smaller wetland.

The deep-rooted native plants of the sand prairie help the sandy soils absorb rainwater and increase the wetland‘s ability to reduce flooding downstream during heavy rains. Maximizing the value of the sand prairies and forested wetlands requires multiple habitat management techniques strategically implemented over time. Volunteers, HeartLands Conservancy staff, and professional contractors have already accomplished an inspiring amount of work in 2022.

57 volunteers improved habitat

20 bags of trash and large items removed

2 acres of burn break construction

15 acres of non-native species removed

135 plants installed at the Arlington Wetlands sign

1.5 acres of bush honeysuckle removed

13 acres of prescribed burning

12 hours of wildlife monitoring

11 bluebird boxes repaired and cleaned

CHANGE PICTURE AND CAPTION

Collinsville Landfill Planning to Become a Prairie and Urban Tree Nursery

We are working with the City of Collinsville to finalize a plan to convert an old landfill into a prairie planting and urban tree nursery.

The prairie planting will reduce maintenance costs for the City while increasing the conservation value of the property.

The urban tree nursery will be grow trees and shrubs that can be incorporated into future City of Collinsville projects.

VCC Community Park

Valentine Conservation Community Park Opening

The Valentine Conservation Community (VCC) held its grand opening event on May 28th with over 100 attendees!

HeartLands Conservancy assisted the group with an action and illustrative plan for VCC’s Valentine Conservation Park and Nature Trails.

At the event, VCC unveiled the rendering of the park plan and sold memorabilia reflecting the founding families of the community’s legacy.

A park sign was revealed, and plants were distributed to the three eldest community members for their contributions to land ownership, family legacy, and land acquisition.

We are excited to watch as the Valentine Conservation Community organization plans to move forward with phase II, the VCC Nature Trail.

Conservation@Home

Our Spring 2022 Online Native Plant Sale was an overwhelming success. With the assistance of 70 volunteer hours, we were able to provide 1470 native plants and 118 native trees and shrubs to our communities. Meanwhile, we raised over $15,000 to help HeartLands Conservancy pursue our mission.

Based on the success of the Spring sale, we are excited to announce that we will be holding a Fall Online Native Plant Sale later this year. The sale will include favorite plants from the spring sale and new plants to add to your garden, but the focus of this plant sale will be native shrubs. We are currently working with suppliers to provide 25 different native shrubs during our Fall Sale. Native shrubs are underutilized and will enhance any project. Stay tuned for more details as we coordinate our next sale.

Contact Eric Wright (Eric.Wright@HeartLandsConservancy.org) or call (618) 566-4451 ext 23 to get started.

FALL PLANT SALE |

ONLINE SALE STARTS : AUGUST 25th PLANT SALE PICKUP : SEPTEMBER 11th

The 2030 Plan recommends:

Protect natural resources. The Village is rich in active recreation (team sports) with 278 acres of parkland and the conservation of natural sites (1,205 acres, including 597 acres in private conservation). In an area rich in natural resources with over 7,700 acres of undulating forests and over 270 acres in wetlands, protection of the tree canopy and watershed ranked high with the community.

More parks on the east side.

Increase the number of smaller parks located near or connected to neighborhoods, especially the east side. Embrace the Village’s riverfront. Did you know Godfrey has 4.4 miles of riverfront? What an opportunity!

Fifty-one miles of bicycle facilities and pedestrian connectivity.

There are currently 18 miles of bicycle facilities and walking trails (including the Sam B. Vadalabene Great River Road Bike Trail at 4.4 miles of Godfrey River frontage). HLC completed the Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan for Godfrey a few years ago, and it was incorporated as part of the plan.

Increase and formalize public/

private partnerships to put the plan into action, increase community vitality, and further develop Godfrey‘s regional identity. The changes and improvements outlined in the 2030 Plan require careful coordination so that the Village may successfully continue the ongoing development and expansion of the park system, programming, and human resources. Special thanks to the Village of Godfrey residents, Mayor Michael J. McCormick, elected officials, administrators Rich Beran, Village Engineer, Chris Logan, Director of Parks & Recreation, and Todd Schubert, Past Director of Parks & Recreation, community leaders, staff, and stakeholders, for without their insight, support and enthusiasm, HeartLands Conservancy could not have completed the plan. With gratitude to Metro East Park and Recreation District for their generous support through their grant program to assist communities. To discuss community or park planning opportunities,

contact Jenny Reiman, Resilient HeartLands Conservancy is excited to announce the return of the Tree Stewards volunteer program, where Communities Program Manager, at volunteers will help look after and take care of new 618-566-4451 x 16 jenny.reiman@ trees in our communities. Our second class of Tree heartlandsconservancy.org. Stewards will be trained through our Tree Stewards Training Program, a free, six week course that educates participants about trees, their benefits and care, and provides practical, hands-on learning in six key areas: • Tree identification • Biology • Soils • Planting • Pruning • Insects & Diseases Tree Stewards & HLC Staff Distributing Trees Training will be held in person at the HeartLands Conservancy office on Tuesday evenings from 6:00pm - 8:00pm between August 9 and September 20. “Graduation” will take place on Saturday, October 1st at Arlington Wetlands, where the class will help improve wildlife habitat by planting native tree thickets in the sand prairie.

Save the date for an informational session! On Tuesday, August 2nd from 6:30-7:30pm, come by our main office (29 E Main St., Belleville, IL 62220) to learn more about the Tree Steward Program.

Tree Stewards & HLC Staff Loading Trees donated to Fairmont City No prior experience is needed to become a Tree Steward. We ask that Tree Stewards provide 24 hours of volunteer service throughout the year in community forests, parks, and HLC projects such as at the Swansea Become Exploration Garden. If you are interested in being a Tree Steward, email Belinda McAllister, belinda.mcallister@heartlandsconservancy.org, to receive more information and register for training.

an HLC Tree Steward!