Author: Lisa

Voices of the Land – Josephine Elsen

Written on March 24, 2012.

Josephine Elsen’s family has a long history in McHenry County. She traces her ancestry back to John Finch and Eliza Jane (Britton) Finch, a couple who arrived from the Northeast in the 1850s. They purchased 160 acres,...

Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge

Written on March 22, 2012.

The proposed Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge just took one step closer to becoming a reality when the US Fish & Wildlife Service released an assessment that recommends a location, configuration and habitat focus...

It’s Time to Burn, Burn, Burn

Written on March 16, 2012.

You’ve probably noticed smoke in the air recently. The season for burning natural areas in McHenry County arrived early this year! Typically the temperature is still too low and the ground is too wet for land...

When It Comes to Creating Wetlands, Mother Nature Is in Charge

Written on March 12, 2012.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA What follows is an article from ScienceDaily regarding the results of a study that found nature appears to do as good a job as man when it comes to creating new wetlands… ScienceDaily (Mar....

February is National Bird-Feeding month!

Written on February 20, 2012.

I’ve been watching the little dark-eyed juncos at the bird feeder today. They keep hopping onto the tube feeder and then quickly off. I did some reading, and found that they are ground feeding birds, so would really...

How old is that oak?

Written on February 13, 2012.

When we say that we found an oak that is at least 400 years old, what do we base that conclusion on? Obviously, we would have to cut the tree down to count the rings, and unless it is already dead, we aren’t going to do...