Proposed Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge public input sessions

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will hold four open house meetings for public input starting next Tuesday regarding the proposed Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge.  There will be two in Illinois and two in Wisconsin.  Hackmatack is a proposed National Wildlife Refuge that straddles the Illinois and Wisconsin border halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee. 

Hackmatack is the Algonquin Indian word for the beautiful tamarack tree.  The lead picture in this story is a tamarack tree photographed at Volo Bog, which is just outside the proposed boundaries of the refuge.

The planners of the refuge thought big as 350,000 acres of land will be included in the study.  The proposed border encompasses a large tract of land from Lake Geneva to the far northwest, Burlington, Wisconsin to the far north, Richard Bong Recreation Area to the far northeast, Crystal Lake, Illinois to the far south, Harvard, Illinois to the southwest, and Fox Lake, Illinois to the southeast. 

The Friends of Hackmatack are the ones that have made this dream possible.  They are "a group of local citizens from northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin, working on a rare opportunity to bring a National Wildlife Refuge to the Chicago Metro area."  Yes, we have Bears and Packers fans working together.

Their mission statement :

Our mission is to facilitate the establishment of the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge in the northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin. The refuge will conserve our area’s unique natural landscapes, plants and wildlife; link existing open space areas; create recreational opportunities and provide long-term economic benefits to the residents of our region.

This author was born near the southern proposed boundary of this park and then grew up in Barrington, Ilinois.  He has watched the tentacles of the ever growing Chicago metropolis swallow what was once countryside and has witnessed the dynamic of the region change from semi-rural to urban.  It is natural for this to occur, but at some point the tide of urban sprawl needs to halt and we need to protect and conserve the woods, lakes, and rivers for many reasons including our own peace of mind.  The establishment of the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge would be a major positive step that will save a wide swath of land for the sandhill cranes, coyotes, and for our own adventure. 

Make your voice heard by coming to the first public input season at 4pm at the McHenry County Govt Center Administration Building at 667 Ware Rd in Woodstock, IL on Tuesday October 12.  If you are unable to come to the meeting then donate to the Friends of Hackmatack.  If short of funds but interested in making your voice heard then sign the support petition on the Friends of Hackmatack page.  The friends group can also be followed on facebook here.  Check their page for future dates and times for the other three open houses.

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