During the late 1980s and the 1990s, a small, dedicated group of activists fought on the ground and in the courts to stop clear-cutting, oil and gas drilling, and ATV use in the Shawnee National Forest located in Southern Illinois. They won the support of their community and the struggle in a landmark court case. Seventeen years later, the court lifted the injunction, and the Forest Service resumed logging. Shawnee Showdown: Keep the Forest Standing portrays the struggle to protect the forest through interviews, photographs, and archival news footage. The film examines how the past struggle can serve to inform the public and activists today in responding to current Forest Service management projects. These activists are once again asking hard questions about public land use. Should our public land be degraded to generate commercial profit for a few? With the effects of climate change intensifying and the knowledge that mature forests sequester more carbon, why not keep the Shawnee National Forest standing as a regional carbon sink? How can the forest remain a healthy habitat for struggling forest species like forest interior and migratory songbirds? Will our Illinois treasure be despoiled? How do we keep the forest standing?

Cade Bursell’s 2021 documentary will be shown Wednesday, August 31, 2022 at the Normal Theater at 7 p.m., free of charge.  Shawnee activists Sam Stearns and John Wallace will be present for a Q & A after the screening.

This event is sponsored by the Normal Theater, the Ecology Action Center, Saad and Julie Elzanati, David Pittman, John Wesley Powell Audubon Society, Illinois Prairie Wild Ones, and Sugar Grove Nature Center.

Registration is full for this year’s event. Please join us next year!

The Ecology Action Center is holding its 20th annual Yard Smart Garden Walk on Saturday, August 6, 2022 from 9:00am – 1:00pm.  This free tour highlights beautiful and functional yards in our community that protect our environment, benefit wildlife, and use few or no synthetic chemicals. The tour features multiple home gardens of different styles. The walk will conclude with lunch and a speaker. Participants should bring their own reusable water bottles, and dress for the weather. Participants are encouraged to carpool to conserve fossil fuels and reduce pollution, so check with your friends/family to see if they are going, and consider riding to the event with them.

This garden walk is free to attend, but our staff works hard to make this event happen, so we do encourage donations to help offset the cost of the event and lunch and to help the Ecology Action Center continue its efforts to promote a healthy local environment! We will send event details to registered participants closer to the event date.

The Yard Smart program promotes a more sustainable approach to lawn and garden maintenance. Working with nature to build a healthier ecosystem in both the soil below ground and the yard above ground will produce a more beautiful, sustainable and safer environment for everyone— children and adults, pets and wildlife—by reducing pollutants that runoff into our local water supplies. The program encourages local homeowners to reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, to conserve natural resources such as water and fossil fuels, and to make room for wildlife in their yards. Yard Smart Certification recognizes local homeowners who use ecologically sustainable practices in maintaining their yards and who realize that their lawn, garden and landscaping decisions affect the health of the whole community. More information on the Yard Smart program as well as a set of free resource fact sheets is available at yardsmart.org.

Note: If you have a log-in in our system, you can log-in when you register and it will populate your information for you. If you do not have a log-in, simply close the pop-up log-in screen and fill in the registration form beneath it.