Fight for the right to bike in Crytal Lake!

There is a petition circulating by a group called McHenry County Bicyle Advocates, seeking support for a campaign to ensure that bicycle lanes are provided along Rakow Road in Crystal Lake when that road is widened. Adding a multi-use trail along the side of the road may only increase project costs by 2-3%. Total project costs are estimated at $30 million.

With gas prices expected to go up again, and the economy expected to drag for a while longer, more people are choosing to use bicycles - and even their feet - for getting around. And Rakow Road shouldn't be a nice short-cut just for cars.

TLC member Eberhard Veit is President of MCBA, and he is putting a lot of energy into this campaign.

You can find more information at their website: http://www.mcbicycleadvocates.org/, and you can contact Eberhard by email at eberhard.veit@eisenmann.com to find out where you can sign a petition, or how you can get a blank petition to help collect signatures.

Trees and Stormwater

Davey Tree Expert Company has a calculator on their website where individuals can calculate the annual dollar value of all the benefits the trees on their property provide -- to them and to the community at large!

For example, the 39 inch bur oak provides nearly $400 worth of benefits annually, including more than $195 in stormwater management by eliminating over 7,000 gallons of stormwater runoff every year! Without that tree, all of that rain water would flow rapidly to the street, helping to overwhelm the stormsewers.

Now, when I add up the stormwater caught by all of my trees: three bur oaks, one white oak, a cottonwood, two maples, two pears, and two honey locusts, the stormwater savings alone of these trees amounts to nearly $2000 a year, or 65,000 gallons of stormwater that is intercepted rather than running off into the stormsewers!

According to the Center for Urban Forest Research, trees act as mini-reservoirs, controlling runoff at the source. Trees reduce runoff by:

- Intercepting and holding rain on leaves, branches and bark

- Increasing infiltration and storage of rainwater through the tree's root system

- Reducing soil erosion by slowing rainfall before it strikes the soil

And you know what, the trees cost us virtually nothing. Sure, we rake the leaves in the fall (which is good exercise, by the way), and pick up branches after a windstorm, but the annual cost is minimal.

This kind of information makes me think that more communities could invest in promoting city trees as part of their stormwater management program rather than (or in addition to) expanding their stormsewer systems. I would guess that it is much less expensive to manage 7,000 gallons of water with a mature tree than by building more stormsewers.

According to American Forests: As communities grow, trees are removed to make way for impervious surfaces such as parking lots, roads and buildings. Our studies show that impervious surfaces have increased by 20% over the past 2 decades in urban areas. Constructed stormwater facilities are created to compensate for the tree loss. These facilities are expensive to build and maintain. The cost has been calculated to be in excess of $100 billion nationally.

Do you have time to help TLC?

Volunteers are the heart of any nonprofit organization, and TLC is no exception!

A whole diversity of TLC volunteers attend our regular Work Parties, cutting brush, burning prairies and wetlands, collecting seed, etc. They are awesome, and their combined efforts each year are equivalent to a half-time staff person.

Some volunteers are licensed herbicide applicators, a skill that requires taking a special class and passing a test. Some bring their own chainsaws, fuel and extra blades to help cut buckthorn and other brush and trees. But they all bring their hearts and energy to the work, doing what they can to restore the Earth.

Our board members are all volunteers, and they do much more than just attend a monthly board meeting! They serve on committees, attend conferences to learn more about conservation and nonprofit management, help out with land stewardship, and basically anything else that they can do to be helpful. The picture to the right is of board members Steve Wenzel and Randy Schietzelt visiting a property one weekend to see whether it was appropriate for TLC to accept as a donation.

TLC's Oak Keeper volunteers are making important contributions to understanding the 15,000 acres of privately owned oak woodlands in McHenry County. In their first year of monitoring private woods, the Oak Keepers have already "discovered" the first two documented occurrences of natural swamp white oak trees in the county - ever. That is really cool, and it was all because of the Oak Keepers project and the work of the TLC Oak Keeper volunteers.

There are many opportunities to make your own contribution as a TLC volunteer. Whether you have a couple of hours a month or a couple of hours a day, there is an opportunity waiting for you at TLC! Give us a call today!

February is bird-feeding month!

I knew that February was African-American History Month, but only just learned that it is also "Bird Feeding Month," promoted by the National Bird-Feeding Society! (birdfeeding.org) The designation was made by Illinois Congressman John Porter in 1994, and has grown in popularity ever since.

February was selected because it is the hardest month for most wild birds, particularly in northern climates like ours. The weather is typically harsh, and food is scarce. The point of having a month devoted to raising awareness of the importance - and enjoyment - of bird feeding.

So, why feed birds?

Keep in mind that a typical backyard bird doesn't weigh as much as two nickels. They spend most of their waking hours searching for food - without the help of "hands" and "fingers". They may consume 20% of their body weight overnight just keeping warm enough to survive. Providing them with an easy to access source of nutritious food makes a big difference to these little guys!

Providing wild birds with food, water and shelter supplements their natural diet and helps them survive. A Wisconsin study showed that chickadees with access to feeders made it through a severe winter better than those without.

And feeding backyard birds is fun. It is exciting to look out and see a dozen or more birds - of different sizes and colors - hopping from bush to feeder and back again.

Here is a collection of advice and tid-bits I pulled off the Internet:

- Keep feeders full, so the birds have a dependable supply of food during cold weather.

- Keep feeders free of snow and ice.

- Offer suet, which is pure fat, a great source of energy for those backyard birds whose summer diet was mostly insects, like woodpeckers, as well as chickadees and nuthatches.

- Stamp down the snow underneath the feeders to help the ground feeding birds, such as juncos, cardinals, blue jays and doves.

- People shouldn't be discouraged if they put up a new feeder and the birds don't flock to it immediately. Because birds find food by sight, it can take a while for them to locate a fresh source. Try putting a piece of aluminum foil on the ground near the feeder, where sunlight can be reflected and catch their eye.

And bird feeding is good for one's health!

Watching wild birds relieves stress and helps one start the day on a positive note. Bringing birds into the backyard, particularly during gloomy northern winters, adds a welcome flash of color, dash of motion and splash of sound. Wild bird feeding is the principal connection many people have with wildlife, considering the continued trend toward moving out of rural and into urban areas.

So, if you aren't already a bird-feeder, now is the time to start! Advice from the experts is to start with a tube feeder, as pictured here. It will attract a diversity of birds. The Cornell University website has a wealth of information about birds and bird-feeding.