Emiquon Corps of Discovery

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About Emiquon Corps of Discovery

www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/illinois/n...
Quoting from The Nature Conservancy site:
Restoring a Connection with the Land
'The Conservancy’s Emiquon preserve, with its long history of human occupation, is a place of uncommon ecological and cultural significance. “Emiquon has been important to people for 600 generations,” notes Doug Blodgett, Illinois River program director for the Conservancy in Illinois. “And that connection is an important part of Emiquon’s past and its future. We want to find ways to restore the link between the local people and the land.”

'The Emiquon Corps of Discovery, created in partnership with the Illinois Natural History Survey and Dickson Mounds State Museum, is a group of 45 volunteers who have engaged with Emiquon in ways that go beyond the scientific documentation of water volume statistics and species surveys. They are writers, artists and photographers who commit their time and their talents to documenting, in very personal ways, the restoration experience at Emiquon.

'“People are actually looking at the land and seeing it in new ways,” says Michael Jeffords, the senior professional scientist with the Illinois Natural History Survey who helps lead the Emiquon Corps of Discovery. “This project has touched a chord with the members of the Corps, and we’ve had people say how important the land has become to them.”

'What is emerging from their efforts is an artistic record of the restoration that is as intimate as it is thorough. Journal entries and essays speak of the hoarse cries of snow geese at twilight and paintings capture the beauty of morning light that turns the still waters of the Illinois River to polished bronze. These are the personal stories of Emiquon told by people who are learning to see themselves connected to the land through their knowledge of its natural rhythms and their experience of its change.'

At the moment, Emiquon Corps of Discovery is public, invitation only. Photos and Discussion are viewable to members only.

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