From the Illinois Department of Natural Resources
SPRINGFIELD – More than 1,500 students will visit Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) state parks in April for the third annual Earth Day in the Parks event. Earth Day in the Parks is an initiative of the IDNR to introduce students to environmental stewardship.
“Students participating in Earth Day in the Parks will have an opportunity to perform meaningful natural resources stewardship activities, including planting trees, planting native wildflowers, removing exotic invasive plant species, building and installing bird boxes and a number of other activities,” said IDNR Director Marc Miller.
Sponsored by the IDNR Office of Public Services, Office of Land Management and the Illinois Conservation Foundation (ICF), Earth Day in the Parks offers students the opportunity to get outdoors and work in nature. Their hands-on experiences will lead them to develop a sense of ownership of the natural resources in our state while also increasing available wildlife habitat. Students and teachers are encouraged to return to the park to study the effects of their work.
“We believe that participating schools realize that this is more than just a field trip. This is an investment in the future generation of conservationists,” said Director Miller. “We hope that these students will continue to visit the parks, not only to check on the success of their projects, but perhaps to volunteer and develop a personal connection to a natural place.”
Earth Day in the Parks continues to grow each year. In fact, the number of participating parks has doubled from last year. 50 state parks are hosting events this year, which means twice the number of schools will be able to participate. School groups were selected by random drawings from an application process held earlier this year.
A grant for the program was provided by the Illinois Conservation Foundation.
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