ILLINOIS NATURE PRESERVES COMMISSION - Illinois DNR

Exhibit BIllinois Department of Natural Resourcesreport to the Illinois Nature Preserves Commissionat the 211 th meeting, May 8, 2012Natural Heritage Resident InternsHannah Kalk, Stefanie Ervin, Michael Blackowicz, Ray Geroff, Russell Heinrichs andChristy Troxell-Thomas completed their one year natural heritage internship. There willnot be a resident intern program in 2012 due to the tight budget. We are exploring waysto return the program in 2013. The resident intern is a one-year, paid, full-time positionwith Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) where students working on aMasters degree in biology gain work experience by assisting Natural Heritage Biologistsor Nature Preserves Commission Preservation Specialists in the field. There have been64 resident interns since the program began in 1993. The intern program is funded bythe Natural Areas Acquisition Fund (NAAF).Illinois Invasive Species Awareness Month (ISAM)The Governor issued a proclamation declaring May “Invasive Species AwarenessMonth” to encourage Illinois residents to learn about ways they can help combat theintroduction and spread of invasive plants and animals in the state. The IDNRrecognized invasive species management efforts in the state with an awards ceremonyMay 1, 2012 at IDNR headquarters in Springfield. Karen Tharp was recognized as theProfessional of the Year for her work as Volunteer Stewardship Network Coordinatorand supervisor of the Southern Illinois Invasive Plant Species Strike team for The NatureConservancy. The Illinois Department of Transportation Region 1, District 1 wasrecognized as the Organization of the Year for its role in supporting the developmentand establishment of the Northeast Illinois Invasive Plant Partnership and for conductinga multi-year invasive plant mapping, control and monitoring project along its highways.Greg White was recognized as Volunteer of the Year for his work with the SouthernIllinois Weed Watch Project. The Illinois Invasive Species Awareness Month website atwww.invasive.org/illinois lists more than 60 events and resources to combat invasivespecies in Illinois.Stewardship grants and contractsThe US Forest Service, through the Hazardous Fuels Reduction on Non- Federal Landsgrant program, approved a grant request for $112,000. The grant will be used for brushclearing and prescribed burn management for 127 acres at Des Plaines Dolomite PrairieLand and Water Reserve in Will County.The US Forest Service, through the Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry grantprogram, provided $110,000 to the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation for “Applying anExotic Plant Strike Team Strategy to Improve Forest Health in Northwest Illinois.” Thegrant will be used to hire a two-person, full-time team to work on invasive species controland prescribed burning in natural areas in 11 counties in northwestern Illinois for a twoyear period. There will be a monitoring and mapping component of the work as well.Nature preserves and land and water reserves are priority treatment areas.IDNR’s FY2012 NAAF stewardship program has started with contract work planned atapproximately 15 state owned nature preserves and land and water reserves. Thecontracts are funded with approximately $256,000 from the Natural Areas Acquisition