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Our Mission:
-To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth.
-To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources.
-To educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment.
-And to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.
Saintly Six

 

 

Good examples of development that 
REDUCE traffic,
RESPECT the environment, 
STRENGTHEN our community. 

       Let's grow and let's do it right!

 

 

 

Rock Valley College
Rock Valley College, mentioned last year as a nasty nine, gets a saintly seven nod for their environmental landscaping (out concern was in the way they did it, not it's outcome).

a) They cleaned up the TOTALLY stagnant lagoon and are planting species indigenous to the area. The horticulturist has a master plan for beautification.

b) RVC connect the east and west sides of the campus together WITHIN the boundaries which drastically REDUCED the traffic on Mulford and Springbrook!

c) The Mulford Road entrance to the college was moved north ...hence alleviating the traffic jams at the light at the corner of Mulford and Springbrook!

d) The Perryville Path has been continued throughout the RVC campus and is 2 miles around. The neighbors, bikers, and walkers are enjoying this.

e) Overall landscaping and shaping of the campus is unfolding. It is done with function, beauty, preservation and restoration as priorities.

 

 

 

 

Winnebago County Forest Preserve District Headquarters
Winnebago County Forest Preserve District Headquarters contains a 5-acre prairie restoration and a 9-acre wetland restoration along the Rock River. It also provides a recreation path, which serves as a trail head for the Sinnissippi recreation path. The tail loops a quarry lake which is surrounded by native plants and trees and is home to fish, turtles, insects and birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Muldoon Grove
Crusader Clinic (1400 West State Street) took the old eye-sore on West State Street and turned it into a beautiful and restful mini-park with lovely trees and shrubs, scented herbs and flowers that can be enjoyed by clients, neighbors and passersby. This demonstrates a real commitment to revitalization of the West Side of Rockford. Good things really do come in small packages.

 

 

 

Roscoe Township
for buying 21 acres of land along Kinnikinnick Creek next to Stone Bridge Nature Trail to expand the prairie along the trail and protect and restore the wetlands along the creek; and for adding one mile more to the trail, including several patches of native prairie.

 

David and Valerie Johnson
for turning over to the Boone County Conservation District the the 17-year leave that they held to the 80-acre Beaver Bluffs Conservation area on Beaver Creek so that the area could be open to the public. Located off US20 west of Belvidere between Shaw & Distillery Roads.

 

Boone Country Conservation District and the McHenry Conservation District
for undertaking the long-term restoration of flood-prone land along the Coon Creek in the so-called Crowfoot Conservation Area that straddles both counties. Coon Creek is on of the best fishing streams in northern Illinois, and floods frequently.

 

Runner-up (there was some concern about his project being in the middle of "sprawlville"):
The Keeling-Puri Peace Plaza on Perryville and Riverside. Says the nominator: "I do not know what else could have been done with this strop of land...but the Peace Plaza is meaningful and beautiful with all of its UN Flags. It softens the harshness of that whole 'urban sprawl' area as well."