In an effort to save their endangered species, Du Page County in Illinois is moving to have 5 of their park locations elevated to full nature preserves.

From the Daily Herald:

The distinction would offer the current preserves additional ecological protection. But it would not stop visitors from enjoying activities currently allowed at some sites, like dog-walking, biking or horseback riding.

“We are saying we will abide by the state's guidelines for higher restrictions of what we do with the land, but that does not preclude people from enjoying it,” said Erik Neidy, the district's manager of natural resources. “It basically restricts all destructive uses to the trails.”

[....]

Neidy said each area was chosen either because it already has trails and parking lots that should be contained or, conversely, has no trails or parking lots and forest preserve staff want to keep it that way.

“We've spent a lot of time and investment to make these areas high-quality, and this will allow us to preserve these areas into the future, not knowing what political pressures might be,” Neidy said.

Kudos to the staff of the parks district for taking a proactive approach. Michigan is also taking steps to aid the Blandings turtles in species survival.

In an effort to protect the Blanding’s turtle nests at the Michigan refuge from predators, namely raccoons, 93 eggs were collected from the nests and incubated for 49-80 days at Herpetological Resource and Management, which is a center near Jackson.

The hatchlings have been divided between the Detroit Zoo and HRM to begin a nurturing process called “head starting.”

“This is a good opportunity for us to do local conservation work on a species of special concern in Michigan,” said Jeff Jundt, the zoo’s curator of reptiles. “The incubation and nurturing process will serve as a temporary solution to help the species thrive until its native living conditions at Shiawassee can be stabilized.”

To read the full article, click here.