The Boone County Conservation District (BCCD) has several exciting announcements. First, the BCCD successfully submitted and was awarded a grant of $949,000 from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation's (ICEF's) Natural Areas Grant Program for the acquisition and restoration of conservation land in Boone County.This funding was used to match a grant request submitted by OpenLands to the Grand Victoria Foundation's (GVF's) Vital Lands Grant Program. Openlands was also successful and was awarded a grant of $1,109,185 toward land acquisition efforts in the Kiswuakee River Watershed in Boone County. These funds, paired with a generous landowner contributions have allowed the BCCD to accomplish the following conservation efforts:

Acquisition of 221-acres of Important Conservation Lands: The BCCD closed on two properties totaling slightly more than 221-acres of December 26th, 2012. The property is located at the confluence of the Beaver Creek and Kishwaukee River. The property includes the riparian corridor of the Beaver Creek between the Beaver Bluffs Conservation Area accessed off of Business Route 20 on the north and the Ipsen Road Conservation Area and LIB Conservation Area on the south. The $1,560,000 property was purchased with $472,500 in grant funds from the GVF's Vital Lands grant program; and $775,000 in grant funds from the ICEF's Natural Areas grant program, which included an additional $10,000 in funding to be used to restore cropland to native habitat. This project also received a generous landowner donation and considerable technical support from Openlands.

Acquisition of 82-acres of Important Conservation Lands: The BCCD is closing on an 82-acre property that includes the Piscasaw Creek and riparian corridor extending south from Woodstock Road. The site does include the remnant floodbank of the glacial outwash stream which created the valley that the lower reach of the Piscasaw Creek now flows through. This proeprty will be acquired with a $164,400 grant from the ICEF's Natural Areas grant program and a generous donation of $143,500 from K-B Farms, Inc., the previous landowner. Mr. Robert Funderburg, President of K-B Farms, Inc. had expressed his desire to assist the BCCD in its effort to preserve important habitats and recognized that this site had many unique natural resource features. His contribution provided the required matching funds needed for the grant proposal. One of the unique features of this site is the fact that it hosts the first documented pair of bald eagles in Boone County to construct a nest and successfully rear offspring since DDT was banned.

Preserving these important conservation lands would not be possible without the generous support of the Illinois Clean Energt Community Foundation and the Grand Victoria Foundation. These foundations have competitive grant programs that have provided the Boone County Community with essential funding needed to proceed with some very critical conservation work. Financial assistance in the form of grants hs helped us purchase lands along the Piscasaw and Beaver Creeks, the Kishwaukee River, and adjoining lands that buffer these high quality streams. To date, the ICECF has awarded a total of $3,305,804 and the GVF has awarded a total of $3009,185. Combined these two foundations have provided a total of $6,314,989 in grants to fund the preservation of 945 acres of important conservation lands (some funded project work is still in progress). These funds helped to leverage an additional $932,663 in donations or matching funds from landowners and other supporting organizations.

Openlands is another organization whose contributions have been essential in nearly all of these projects. Founded in 1963, Openlands is one of the oldest conservation organizations in the Greater Chicago Metropolitan Area. Openlands has applied for and received grant funding to support conservation work in Boone County. They have provided countless hours of technical support to facilitate land acquisitions, conduct ecological research, analyze and interpret data, and so much more. Our community owes all of these organizations, their dedicated staff and their board members, a debt of gratitude for their substantial contributions and continued support of the BCCD and the work we strive to do!