Four
individuals to be inducted into Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame
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Conservation Youth Achievement Scholarship recipients to be honored
[JAN. 3, 2006]
SPRINGFIELD --
Tickets are now available for the annual Illinois Outdoor
Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremony on Feb. 3 at the Crowne
Plaza Hotel in Springfield. Four individuals long recognized for
distinguished service and commitment to natural resource protection
and outdoor recreation in Illinois will be inducted into the Outdoor
Hall of Fame -- the late Carl Becker, Jared Garver, John Kidd Jr.
and Dr. Glen Sanderson.
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Ten high school juniors and seniors selected from throughout the
state will be introduced at the banquet and presented with $1,000
scholarships as Illinois Conservation Foundation Conservation Youth
Achievement Scholarship recipients. "We hope the young people
being honored at the Outdoor Hall of Fame banquet will take
inspiration from the achievements of the new hall of fame members,
each of whom has had a special impact on our state," said Sam Flood,
acting director of the Department of Natural Resources.
2007 Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame inductees
served as one of Illinois' foremost
conservationists and stewards of the state's natural resources
during a career that spanned four decades. The Wisconsin native
joined the then Illinois Department of Conservation in 1978 and
will long be remembered for his service as a biologist and
manager charged with protecting the state's endangered species
and natural heritage while working for the Illinois Department
of Corrections and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
Becker was instrumental in the establishment of the real estate
transfer tax fund to support land and wildlife conservation
programs, as well as the state's Wildlife Preservation Fund
income tax checkoff. He served as the first director of the
Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board and the first chief
of the state Division of Natural Heritage, working to expand
natural areas protection in Illinois. He served as the Illinois
representative with the International Association of Fish and
Wildlife Agency's campaign for dedicated federal funding in
support of wildlife and endangered species protection programs.
After his retirement from the Department of Natural Resources in
2002, Becker joined The Nature Conservancy as director of
conservation programs, working on a variety of habitat
restoration and enhancement projects throughout Illinois. He
died unexpectedly in April 2006 at the age of 56.
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Jared Garver of
Cobden is credited with helping advance one of
Illinois' most remarkable wildlife success stories. He retired
in 2002 after a 34-year career with the Illinois Department of
Conservation and Illinois Department of Natural Resources,
serving most of that time as the state's wild turkey project
leader. Wild turkeys disappeared from Illinois about 1910. In
1958, the state began a restoration effort, releasing
wild-trapped birds in five locations in the Shawnee National
Forest. When Garver took over management of the state wild
turkey project, the turkey flock was estimated at no more than
1,000 birds. He led efforts to find suitable habitat for turkey
restoration, working with landowners and with members of the
National Wild Turkey Federation. Under his guidance, the
Department of Natural Resources has trapped and transplanted
nearly 5,000 birds to more than 270 release sites in 99 of the
state's 102 counties. Working with the National Wild Turkey
Federation, Garver helped secure more than $2 million in land
acquisition, habitat improvement, turkey stocking and hunter
education in the state. The wild turkey population is now
thriving in Illinois, with a population of more than 140,000.
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John Kidd
Jr. of Crete is the founder and president of the Fishin'
Buddies youth fishing club, an organization that has introduced
thousands of inner city and suburban children in northeast
Illinois to fishing, outdoor recreation and the natural world
around them. Fishin' Buddies was begun with youth fishing
derbies and casting clinics in 1993. Kidd later developed
fishing and environmental education programs, including a
Conservation Kids effort that put teens to work on prairie and
wetland restoration activities at the Forest Preserve District
of Cook County's Beaubien Woods Flatwood Lake. Younger children
are also provided with natural resources and environmental
learning opportunities that otherwise may not be available to
urban youth. The program also continues to sponsor fishing
derbies and tournaments for thousands of youngsters in Chicago
and suburban Cook County.
Glen C. Sanderson
of Champaign , a renowned wildlife biologist with more
than 50 years of service to Illinois, is considered one of the
world's leading authorities on the biology and ecology of
raccoons and one of the country's leading advocates for
development of a nontoxic shot to alleviate lead poisoning in
waterfowl. Dr. Sanderson is also well known for his leadership
of the preservation of the endangered Illinois prairie chicken
in southeast Illinois. A World War II veteran, he began work in
1949 as a wildlife biologist in Iowa before joining the Illinois
Natural History Survey in 1955. He became the director of the
Illinois Natural History Survey's Center for Wildlife Research
in 1964 and was later named to the rank of principal scientist
in 1989. Since his retirement in 1990, he has remained an active
researcher and mentor. He has more than 90 scientific
publications. In 1992, he received the prestigious Aldo Leopold
Award from The Wildlife Society for distinguished service to
wildlife conservation, the highest honor that can be bestowed on
wildlife professionals.
Also being recognized at the banquet are four companies and
organizations that have assisted in promotion of outdoor recreation
and natural resources conservation in Illinois: John Deere, the
Friends of the Outdoors, Magro's Processing and Turasky Meats.
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"We're encouraging everyone who supports and enjoys outdoor
recreation and natural Illinois to join us in honoring these and a
number of other individuals and organizations at the annual Illinois
Outdoor Hall of Fame banquet," said Flood, who serves as the
chairman of the board of directors of the Illinois Conservation
Foundation. "Induction into the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame is a
significant honor, and the banquet is one of the highlight events of
the year."
Tickets for the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame banquet are $50
each and are available by calling the Illinois Conservation
Foundation at 217-785-2003. The event on Feb. 3 begins with a
reception at 5 p.m. and dinner at 6:30, followed by the hall of fame
induction and an auction benefiting youth scholarship and other
Illinois Conservation Foundation programs.
The Illinois Conservation
Foundation is an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation
established in 1995 to support the programs of the Illinois
Department of Natural Resources. Contributions are tax-deductible to
the fullest extent of the law.
[Illinois
Department of Natural Resources news release; LDN]
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