Carroll County: IFA Member Barbecue

When
07/20/2013
10:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Location
Thomson Causeway Campground, Stone Shelter

Registration

IFA Member – $6.00
Lunch of pulled pork, potato salad, fruit salad, baked beans, cheesecake dessert and drink. Cost is subsidized by the IFA Region 1.
SAF Member – $10.00
Lunch of pulled pork, potato salad, fruit salad, baked beans, cheesecake dessert and drink.

Registration is closed

IFA Member and their families in northern Illinois (Region 1) are invited to a barbecue and field day on Saturday, July 20th. This event has it all - scenic sites, professional foresters, tasty barbecue lunch, and lots of topics showing success and failure.

WHERE: The IFA and the Society of American Foresters (SAF) are visiting the second largest holding of forestland in Illinois - the Upper Mississippi Wildlife and Fish Refuge. The US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) professionals manage the nearly 240,000 acres, and will explain how they maintain desired plants and eliminate undesirable invasives. We will visit two sites, have a great barbecue lunch, talk about the future, and learn how the Corps of Engineers deals with forest problems.

MORNING: We will start at the Stone Shelter in the (Picnic) Day Use Area at the Thomson Causeway Campground at 10 am. After introductions and an explanation of the Refuge's management arrangements, we will visit the Duck Foot Marsh, a wildlife area constructed by the COE from river sediment, and we will hear about the COE's successes and failures in creating habitat through tree planting.

LUNCH: Over a lunch of pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, baked beans, fruit salad, and cheese cake, IFA members will talk about future events and member needs and things that the IFA is doing.

AFTERNOON: Then, we'll travel north to Lost Mound, the largest tract of tall grass prairie in Illinois that is ringed by bottomland forest. Here the COE is working to maintain forest health amidst invasive plants and pests, while considering endangered species habitat.

Starts at ten AM, lunch at about noon, Lost Mound at 1:30 PM, finish at 4:30 PM, or earlier if you wish. SAF members will have a business meeting at 5 PM.

TOPICS: At both sites, the COE foresters will discuss the Environmental Management Plan, the management goals, forestry practices, managing for threatened and endangered species, adapting to oak wilt and emerald ash borer, controlling invasives, tree planting, crop tree release, and more.

This event is specifically for IFA members and SAF members, with the IFA discounting the registration fee for its members - $6 for IFA members, $10 for SAF members.

Join us for an interesting and informative field day, a great barbecue lunch, and conversation with professionals in a very scenic area.

Please register by July 18th, so that we have a headcount for lunch.

DIRECTIONS: Take Illinois 84 to Thomson, IL, and turn west onto Main Street for about 0.6 miles to Lewis Avenue; turn south and drive into the Causeway facility. Lewis Avenue ends, turn west onto Potter Road which leads across the bridge. Follow Potter Road to the end; the Stone Shelter is on the right.
GPS Info for the Causeway Entrance:
Latitude: 41.95167, -90.11083
Longitude: 41°57'6"N, 90°6'39"W

More information on the Thomson Causeway facility, including campground info, can be found HERE.

If you have any questions, contact Tom Vorac at tom_vorac@live.com or Dick Pouzar at pouzar@yahoo.com.