Letters

IMPRESSED CANADIAN

Dear Editor,

I recently had the pleasure of spending my spring break vacation in Chicago, and among the many wonders that had me agog, a particular highlight was a visit to the Cap Sauers restoration site in Cook County. My friend, Robert Arentz, is a stewardship leader there, and has kept me apprised of the various efforts volunteers have made to improve the wild lands of Illinois with accounts of his ongoing service, copies of Chicago WILDERNESS, and more. Seeing it first-hand was a treat; the word “impressive” hardly does it justice!
Despite our pride and reputation as being a land of wild beauty, one would be hard-pressed in my part of Canada to find the equivalent of what your organization has managed to create. Indeed, I would need to drive west to the provincial and national parks of the Rocky Mountains before I could find similar acreage of “unspoiled” and protected wilderness to what is available in your own backyard! Urban green space here is quite urban; developed, confined, and managed more for recreational uses than consideration of natural ecosystems.

I’m in the midst of making a career transition, and in part the work of your organization has led me to place Chicago at the top of my list of relocation choices. Who wouldn’t want to live in a place that so effectively combines urban and wilderness?! If I move there, count me in on volunteering!

Congratulations on your organization’s accomplishments and commitment to ecological preservation and restoration. It is inspiring, and I’m making sure I pass along the good news to like-minded people in my area.

Michelle Kline
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada

HORSES AND HABITAT

Dear Editor,

I’m writing in regards to the proposal to put an Olympic equestrian center at Lakewood Forest Preserve in Lake County. We are not opposed to the Olympics. We enjoy sports and hope that Chicago gets the 2016 Olympic bid. But if Chicago does receive the bid, it needs to consider reclaiming an area from brown space — rather than building on green space in a forest preserve. Our mayor has always been “green” and has done so much for the city in this regard. We propose that he continue in this direction and that Chicago find another equestrian site to fulfill its 2016 Olympic bid.

Judy Cummings
Friends of Lake County Forests

To writer Sheryl De Vore,

I am a 21-year resident adjacent to the Lakewood Forest Preserve. From the bottom of my heart and soul, and all of the decent people who love and care about preserving our forest preserves, thank you for publishing your article titled “Olympic Bid Could Tame Lakewood.” You have hit the nail on the head as to the environmental impacts.

Larry Svec & Family
Wauconda, IL

NO REFUGE

Dear Editor,
I am one of the founding board members of the Friends of the Kankakee. Our mention in the Spring 2007 issue was a welcome plug but it seems to suggest that there is, right now, a “Grand Kankakee Wildlife Refuge.” There is not.

There are several restoration projects throughout the Kankakee River basin, and a national wildlife refuge should be one of them. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved a 30,000-acre Refuge in 1999 for Indiana and Illinois, but planning was suspended in 2000 without funding.

Take a good look at the river in both states and all its problems and you will see what we see. We hope that the Chicago Wilderness coalition will help us dust off that proposal and launch what could be one of the largest river and marsh restoration projects in the nation.

Jim Sweeney
Schererville, Indiana

GOODBYE MR. PRAIRIE

To the Editor,

I heard yesterday that “Mr. Prairie,” Bob Betz, had died. He was one of my mentors, and he mentored a great many of us involved with prairie today. He was one of the instructors in the Chicagoland Natural History class at the old Chicago Academy of Sciences in 1968 — the class that introduced me to the wonders of what is now called Chicago Wilderness and changed the direction of my life. I still have my notes from his lectures.

Bob was an important advisor in the early days of Save the Prairie Society. He used to call me up late at night just to talk about prairies for an hour or more, until I’d have to excuse myself to get some sleep.

Bob was there whenever we needed him. He would speak to groups, he gave scientific credibility to our organization, he typed the species list for the prairie, and he shared his knowledge with us. “The thing of it is” (as he used to say), Bob recognized early on the necessity of burning prairies. But most of all, he infected all of us with “prairie fever.” What he first called “No Name Prairie #2” is one of the great success stories of the Chicago Wilderness — you may know it today as Wolf Road Prairie.

Jack Shouba
Save the Prairie Society
St. Charles, IL

KESTREL CUBS FAN

Hello!

I have lived two buildings away from Wrigley Field since Autumn 2005, and from the first week have had a regular visitor, an American kestrel falcon, who comes and goes but always returns. He comes to the hatch leading to the roof, just under the shade of my fourth-floor balcony. He usually comes around 7 or 8 p.m. in mild weather. He will come every night for months, then disappear for just as long before reappearing. He makes no sounds; I never see him fly in or out, or even move. He is a constant part of my life here in Chicago, and I am truly grateful to open my back door most every night and wish him well.

Elena Disabato
Chicago, IL