21 Sierrans Float the Saline River

The 754,942-acre Saline River watershed in far southeastern Illinois has gone from one of the most important historical and geographical features in the region to one of the most abused and under-appreciated watersheds in the entire state. Once a pristine river running through vast forested wetlands the Saline has been turned into an extensively channelized…

Stop the Swap–Go to Bat for the Bats

How ironic that during the Year of the Bat, the Shawnee National Forest would propose a land exchange in which the Forest Service would trade away a 384-acre tract of land with a known endangered bat species to Peabody Coal, Co. for a strip mine! An Indiana bat maternity roost was found on the parcel…