Agricultural Innovation & Perennial Crops In Central Illinois

Richland Community College-Shilling Center Decatur, Illinois

Free public event is for farmers, landowners, scientists, environmentalists,
business and civic leaders, and everyone interested in innovative practices, crops,
and markets for a sustainable agriculture future.

From egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly!

Lincoln Trail Homestead State Park and Memorial 39.805351, -89.104150, Decatur, Illinois

Butterflies do more than just paint a pretty picture. They help flowers pollinate, eat plenty of weedy plants and provide a food source for other animals. In addition, their presence or absence can tell us a lot about the local environment. Join us as we learn how to protect and promote threatened pollinators like Monarch Butterflies.

Macon County Community Environmental Council Quarterly Environmental Forum

Decatur Public Library - Madden Auditorium 130 N Franklin Street, Decatur, IL, United States

Frank Grgurich, a Master Gardener who has been growing vegetables for several years on a large scale as well as composting will talk about:  “Garbage to black GOLD.  Free fertilizer from your kitchen and yard and maybe your neighbors.”

Settlement on the Prairie

Lincoln Trail Homestead State Park and Memorial 39.805351, -89.104150, Decatur, Illinois

Join us a Dr. Judy Parrish tells stories of some of the hardships early settlers had to face in Central Illinois as they worked to harness the rich prairie soils to start a new life.

Saving Land, Saving Species: Lessons for Central Illinois from Central America

Hilton Garden Inn 1501 S. Neil St., Champaign, Illinois

Join LCF for an evening with Mark Wainwright. This wildlife biologist, author, and educator is president of the Monteverde Conservation League of Costa Rica, which manages the Children's Eternal Rainforest, the largest private preserve in Central America. ​Tickets are $50 each. REGISTRATION DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 15 ​Visit Conservation Foundation website for details and to register online.

Community Environmental Council Quarterly Forum

Decatur Public Library - Madden Auditorium 130 N Franklin Street, Decatur, IL, United States

Featured guest will be Steve John the co-founder and executive director of the Agricultural Watershed Institute, a Decatur-based nonprofit organization, and who serves on the Steering Committee of Green Lands Blue Waters. Keynote: The Perennial Biomass Initiative: Collaboration For the Next Landscape Transformation Steve John will discuss a multi-state initiative for a 21st Century landscape transformation featuring perennial crops to enhance agriculture’s economic, environmental, and social performance. The Decatur area and the Upper Sangamon River Watershed can be a test bed to significantly increase acreage planted in perennial crops managed for both agricultural goods and environmental services. Download a flyer here.