Category Archives: News
Emerald Ash Borer workshops for Southern Illinois
Emerald Ash Borer Community Preparedness Workshops in Southern Illinois.
Recent discoveries of Emerald Ash Borer in Perry and Williamson counties underscore the need for communities to be proactive against Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). The University of Illinois Extension is offering the following programs for local officials, municipalities, park districts, arborists, and others impacted by the recent Emerald Ash Borer findings. The programs will be held at the following locations: Thursday, November 13 Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge Visitor’s Center 8588 Rte 148 Marion, IL 62959 From 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.Thursday, November 13 Perry County Government Building Conference Room 3764 State Rte 13/127 Pinckneyville, IL 62274 From: 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.Friday, November 14 Shawnee National Forest 50 Highway 145 South Harrisburg, IL 62946 From 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Workshop participants will learn about emerald ash borer, why it is a threat to our natural forests and urban trees, regulatory implications of the recent discoveries, and how to create a community action plan to manage ash trees on city-owned and private property. This workshop will discuss how to take inventory of all ash trees within a community in order to develop budget needs should large-scale ash tree removal become necessary. The program is FREE, but reservations are required by November 12. To register call University of Illinois Extension, Jackson county at: 618-687-1727 or register online at http://web.extension.illinois.edu/fjprw/Extra Credit Opportunity: Garden of the Gods trail cleanup is Saturday
Also, additional information related to broader activities at Garden of the Gods this weekend: “Shawnee National Forest to Hold Leave No Trace Event”, see:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/shawnee/news-events/?cid=STELPRD3813667 Paul RestivoProject Learning Tree (PLT) K-8 Educator Workshop – Saturday, February 21st, 2015
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Amanda G. Patrick Public Affairs Officer |
Shawnee National Forest | |
p: 618-253-1031 f: 618-253-1060 apatrick | |
50 Highway 145 South
Harrisburg, IL 62946
Stay Connected!
www.fs.fed.us
www.fs.fed.us/shawnee
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Caring for the land and serving people. |
Outdoor Education Internship(s)
Laura Baird defends thesis!
Potential Fellowship/Scholarship Information
Open positions at The Field Museum – Spread the word!
National Wildflowers week at the Shawnee National Forest
Invasive Species Events at the Shawnee National Forest
Shawnee National Forest Announces Invasive Species Events in Support of Illinois Invasive Species Awareness Month
HARRISBURG, Ill. (APRIL 21, 2014) – On Thursday, May 8th, 2014 at 6:00 p.m., the Shawnee National Forest will host an Invasive Species Presentation. The event will be held at the Crab Orchard Visitor Center located in Marion, Illinois. Matthew Lechner, Shawnee National Forest, and Karla Gage, River to River Cooperative Weed Management Coordinator with Crab Orchard Wildlife Management Area, will be the hosts for the presentation. On Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 at 3:30 p.m., the Shawnee National Forest will host an Invasive Species Workshop for Educators. The event will be held at Mississippi Bluffs Ranger District in Jonesboro, Illinois. Karla Gage, River to River Cooperative Weed Management Coordinator, will be the host for the presentation. Both events are being held as part of Illinois Invasive Species Awareness Month. To learn more about ISAM, including additional events being held around the state, please visit http://www.invasive.org/illinois/. Administered by the USDA Forest Service, the Shawnee National Forest is one of 155 national forests nationwide. As the only national forest in Illinois, the Shawnee offers numerous avenues for connecting with the natural world through its 280,000 acres of varied landscape. Whether your interests lie more in outdoor recreational activities, such as hiking or camping, or include learning about the unique natural and cultural heritage of southern Illinois, the fields, forests and streams of the Shawnee welcome you. To discover more about the Shawnee National Forest, visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/shawnee and follow us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/shawneenf. The U.S. Forest Service is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a mission of sustaining the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The Forest Service’s Eastern Region includes twenty states in the Midwest and East, stretching from Maine, to Maryland, to Missouri, to Minnesota. There are 17 national forests and one national tallgrass prairie in the Eastern Region. For more information, visit www.fs.usda.gov/R9. The U.S. Forest Service manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the Forest Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nation’s clean water supply, a value estimated at $7.2 billion per year. The agency has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850 million forested acres within the U.S., of which 100 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live. For more information, visit www.fs.usda.gov/.Chris Benda Leads Wildflower Walks Throughout Southern Illinois
Fish Tales on the Shawnee
Download Link: Fish_Tales_2014_Pounds_Hollow_Lake_Flyer
SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST PRESENTS:
FISH TALES An aquatic education adventure!
2014 Program
Vision Statement – Fish Tales is a fishing program designed to involve children from underserved communities in an environmental education program that introduces environmentally healthy habits to last them a lifetime, while enjoying a fun summer experience. Come join us for a morning of aquatic education fun! Learn how to bait your hook, cast, knot tie, fish and more. Enjoy hands on, aquatic based activities too and come explore the great outdoors!
- Sign-in at 9 am, introductions, safety information/facilities information, pole, bait demonstration, catch and release, casting, fishing, break, knot tying and fishing. PLEASE NOTE: All activities will be finished by noon.
- Do not forget to wear a hat or cap, sunglasses and sunscreen for protection from the sun. Also, please wear tennis shoes or good walking shoes – No sandals or flip flops.
- Fishing Poles and tackle will be provided.
- Print Name__________________________________________Age:__________
- Email____________________________________________________________
Extra Credit Opportunity
Invasive Weeds Presentation May 8th
INVASIVE SPECIES PRESENTATION
Hosted at the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge
May 8th, 2014- 6:00 p.m.
Presented by Karla Gage; River To River Cooperative Weed Management Area (CWMA) in cooperation with the Shawnee National Forest www.rtrcwma.org www.fs.usda.gov Download link: CWMA_NNIS May 8Forest Rec Summer Camp Meeting 2: Tuesday April 15th 5-7pm OR 7-9pm
Sustainable Forest Management PSAs with Christina Hendricks
Seminar I Just Gave: Rise of the Robots: Machine vision and your cellphone’s all-seeing sensors in forest recreation ecology
Seminar I Just Gave: Rec Without Wrecking
Heartland Region Student Symposium (Conference)
- The Early Bird registration rate of $90.00 for the weekend has been extended until Monday, March 24th. This fee covers the conference, lodging, meals and entertainment.
- Check-in starts at 2:00pm Thursday, April 3rd. Opening Circle starts at 4:30pm.
- Highlights of the event include a 50th anniversary of the 1964 Wilderness Act celebration; student-presented workshops; representatives from federal land management agencies and regional outdoor recreation and education programs; an awesome jazz and blues band playing live Friday night; and campfire mentoring.
- Keynote Speaker: Karl Rohnke, one of the founding fathers of team building and the challenge course industry.
- Closing circle takes place at 10:00am on Saturday.
- Touch of Nature staff will be facilitating post-conference activities on Saturday, including high-ropes course programming, rock climbing, and paddling experiences.
Another interesting protected areas update from Ashley D’Antonio
Heartland Regional Student Symposium Is Coming Up!
- The Early Bird registration rate of $90.00 for the weekend has been extended until Monday, March 24th. This fee covers the conference, lodging, meals and entertainment.
- Check-in starts at 2:00pm Thursday, April 3rd. Opening Circle starts at 4:30pm.
- Highlights of the event include a 50th anniversary of the 1964 Wilderness Act celebration; student-presented workshops; representatives from federal land management agencies and regional outdoor recreation and education programs; an awesome jazz and blues band playing live Friday night; and campfire mentoring.
- Keynote Speaker: Karl Rohnke, one of the founding fathers of team building and the challenge course industry.
- Closing circle takes place at 10:00am on Saturday.
- Touch of Nature staff will be facilitating post-conference activities on Saturday, including high-ropes course programming, rock climbing, and paddling experiences.
Park and Wildland Management Extra Credit Opportunities
Custom instrumentation update: video!
MaxBotics HRXL-MaxSonar-WR 7380 working code, mm-resolution ultrasonic ranging

/* HRXL MaxSonar WR TTY serial communication example sketch Ultrasonic rangefinding Original bits by Logan Park, Ph.D., in honor of his astonishingly beautiful wife. Pretty much everything else is... based on: http://www.maxbotix.com/documents/HRXL-MaxSonar-WR_Datasheet.pdf and on the Arduino Mega 2560 ADK: http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardADK and on this handy ASCII chart: http://www.csgnetwork.com/asciiset.html and a bunch of posts on the Arduino forums. 1. Connect pin 5 (tty/serial) of the ranging unit to pin 19 (Serial1 RX) on the Mega 2560. 2. Connect pin 6 of the ranging unit to any 5V supply on the Mega 2560. 3. Connect pin 7 of the ranging unit to any GND on the Mega 2560. */ int current_range_reading = -99; void setup() { Serial.begin(115200); // Set your computer's serial terminal baud rate to this. Serial1.begin(9600); // This is what the MaxBotics TTY sonar output needs. } void loop() { if (Serial1.available() > 5) // Then at least one complete range, 6 characters long, is stored in the RX buffer. { int inByte = Serial1.read(); // Examine the first stored character and decide what to do. if( inByte == 82 ) // "R" character { int thousands = (Serial1.read() - '0') * 1000; // Take and convert each range digit to human-readable integer format. int hundreds = (Serial1.read() - '0') * 100; int tens = (Serial1.read() - '0') * 10; int units = (Serial1.read() - '0') * 1; int cr = Serial1.read(); // Don't do anything with this, just clear it out of the buffer with the rest. // Assemble the digits into the range integer. current_range_reading = thousands + hundreds + tens + units; if(current_range_reading == 300) //This is the minimum reading for the HRXL MaxSonar WR 7380, not the actual distance { Serial.println("too close!"); } else if(current_range_reading == 5000) //This is the max reading for the HRXL MaxSonar WR 7380, not the actual distance { Serial.println("too far!"); } else { Serial.print("Range (mm): "); Serial.println(String(current_range_reading)); } } else if( inByte == 13 ) // Carriage Return character, oops! { //Serial.println(); } else if( inByte == -1 ) // Just in case! This shouldn't happen if Serial1.available() returns true. { Serial.println("RX buffer empty, wth?"); return; } } else { //Serial.print("RX buffer not ready"); // This is very spammy, uncomment at your own risk. } }
Arduino Laser Rangefinding in Recreation Ecology: Lightware AL_01 Kit



Experiential Tree-Climbing Program developed by Beth Marcoot, one of my students, as a Master’s-level project
Dissertation Available: Three Useful Studies on Recreation Ecology and Visitor Use
Visual Impacts In Parks: Jet Contrails in Denali National Park





