Mark your calendar and plan to attend our upcoming council meeting! This meeting is scheduled for Thursday July 22, 2010 at 5:30 in Nauvoo, Illinois. Restaurant arrangements are being made and more information will be made available at a later time. Meeting information will be mailed to you in the next few weeks. The business meeting will take place from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. After the meeting, interested individuals will be invited to take a guided tour of Prairie Land Conservancy's Stony Hills Nature Preserve. The tour will provide an opportunity for council members to meet the Prairie Land Conservancy members and see their donated property they have been working on. Please RSVP your intentions to Tracy or Dave no later than NOON JULY 19, 2010 by calling the office at (309)833-4747.

Prairie Hills RC&D READY (Reaching, Educating and Developing Youth) Bus had a great year! This literacy program, which provides children pre-school through fifth grade, educational presentations on conservation, wildlife habitat or the environment, and gives them a free book of their choice, traveled to over 25 events in 2009, and gave away over 2500 books throughout it's travels! The children have made the program so worthwhile and exciting. They light up when they see the bus and get to pick out their free book! Of course none of this could have been possible without the outstanding community support recieved throughout Prairie Hills 6 counties.

Recently, the READY Bus received a $1,000 grant from ADM, a $300 donation from the Macomb Kiwanis Club, a $702 donation from Pi Beta Phi Sorority at Monmouth College, a $200 donation from the Hancock County Farm Bureau and several other monetary donations from individuals and organizations. Without these needed donations, the READY Bus would not be able to continue this literacy program. Monies are used to purchase new books, and educational materials along with assisting with operational expenses of the bus. Along with these monetary donations, the READY Bus has received large donations of books from the Willits Elementary School in Monmouth, and several individuals throughout the area. These book donations help keep the supply fresh and help out when money is not readily available to purchase new books.

So far in 2010, the READY Bus has traveled to 10 events within its 6 county area and given out over 1800 books to date. With several more events scheduled in the upcoming months, the READY Bus hopes to travel to over 30 sites and hand out over 3,000 books this year. One event the READY Bus attended was the Touch a Truck in Galesburg, Illinois where the bus passed out several hundred books to children of pre-school and kindergarten age.

Some other goals the READY Bus would like to obtain for 2010 is to install an awning for the side, install solar lighting for the inside, continue to collect new and good quality used books, and obtain funding to hire a part time educator for the program.

Prairie Hills RC&D and the READY Bus program would like to thank all the groups, organizations and individuals for their tremendous support and donations! If you or your organization would like to sponsor the READY Bus program, provide a donation, or schedule the bus for 2010, please contact the office at (309)833-4747.

The READY Bus will be in Bushnell at the Garden Club July 14th, at the Henderson COunty Fair around July 21, at Lake Argyle for COnservation Days September 16th, and the Farmers Market September 18th. These are just a few of the upcoming scheduled events and more will be added at a later date.

The Prairie Land Conservancy has been busy working on stewardship plans for their 196 acre donated nature preserve in Hancock County. Along with this, the committee has been working with several private land owners throughout their area to obtain conservation easements on their properties. Some of these conservation easements should take place within the next few months.

If you or someone you know is interested in joining the PLC, providing assistance, volunteering, or interested in learning more about conservation easements, please visit the PLC website at www.prairielandconservancy.com or call the office at (309)833-4747.

After several years, the Prairie Hills RC&D board decided to update their logo. Kent Embry of Quincy Display graphics designed several similar logos for the council to choose from. After several minor changes a logo was voted on at the last executive board meeting at the beginning of June. This new logo will be easier to reproduce for stitching, brochures and newsletters. Check it out!

Please find below a list of tentaviley scheduled Prairie Hills RC&D Council Meetings and Executive Board Meetings for 2010. As the meeting dates get closer, information will be mailed to you.

2010 TENTATIVE COUNCIL MEETING DATES
Thursday July 22, 2010
Thursday October 21, 2010

2010 TENTATIVE EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING DATES
Thursday June 3, 2010
Thursday August 19, 2010
Thursday October 14, 2010
Thursday December 16, 2010

These dates are subject to change depending on circumstances.

The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), in cooperation with Prairie Hills Resource COnservation and Development, Inc. would like you to become informed of our Earth Team Volunteer Program. The mission of the Earth Team Volunteer Program is to provide an effective volunteer workforce with the NRCS and Prairie Hills to help people conserve, improve, and sustain the Earth's resources and it's environment.

Locally we are encouraging individuals with time to visit our office and volunteer their time in the effort to assist us with our activities. The kind of work you could assist us with could be computer work, sorting children's books and education for the Reaching Edicating and Developing Youth Bus literacy program, or stewardship such as brush cutting, mowing, seeding, and sign making at the Stony Hills Nature Preserve, or assisting the Prairie Land Conservancy with stewardship.

If you have questions or would like to become an Earth Team Volunteer, you may call us at (309)833-4747. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. We may also be reached by email at tracy.meredith@rcdnet.net, or david.king@il.usda.gov.

In September 2007, Prairie Hills accepted a $250,000 grant on behalf of the LaMoine River Ecosystem Partnership from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Prairie HIlls RC&D is working in conjunction with the Illinois Beef Association, Lamoine River Ecosystem Partnership, and the McDonough County Soil Water Conservation District. The grant monies are intended to provide livestock operators alternative watering sources to the river and improve pasture grazing to help protect the river from erosion and pollution of sediment and animal waste. This program will use Best Management Practices in the upper reaches of the LaMoine River Watershed. Installation of the practices will address water quality, streambank erosion, runoff, and habitat degradation through coordinated livestock management. Examples of some practices include the following: fencing, watering facilities, soil testing, nutrient management plans, prescribed grazing, stream crossings, upland erosion control, streambank stabilization, grade control and wetland riparian re-vegetation. Prairie Hills will be working with the IEPA on this conservation reserve program for approximately 2 years helping provide cost share to landowners interested in this program. To date Prairie Hills has assisted 6 landowners with a few more applicants currently in progress. The livestock operations have varied from cattle to sheep.
If you would like to receive more information on this program, please contact our office at (309)833-4747.