We’re pleased to announce that the May 2025 edition of the online magazine OutdoorIllinois Journal is now live. Take a few moments to peruse this edition for the many timely, natural resource-based stories it contains. Here's a taste of six of the new articles you will find in this issue.
Spring weather turns the attention of outdoor enthusiasts toward a range of activities—from tallying a list of spring migratory birds sighted to woodland walks in search of morels. And fishing. A great activity to get youth outdoors and away from electronic devices this summer is to introduce them to bluegill fishing. In this edition of OutdoorIllinois Journal, you’ll find a story chock-full of tips on how to introduce youth to bluegill fishing. If crappie fishing piques your interest, be sure to access the spring crappie fishing story for tips on where to fish and what lures you may find successful. A great way to kick-start an interest in fishing is to attend a community fishing event, such as the annual Two Rivers Family Fishing Fair at Pere Marquette State Park, which you can learn about in Gretchen Steele’s article.
Another story covers IDNR’s announcement that chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in deer in Putnam, Marshall, Adams and Peoria counties. CWD is an always-fatal neurological disease that affects the long-term health of white-tailed deer. First documented in Illinois in 2002, the February 2025 detections represent the farthest south the disease has been confirmed.
There’s even more for you in this edition of OutdoorIllinois Journal. Look for the article providing tips for how you can help migrating birds and another feature on a tiny native songbird with a colorful crown, the kinglet. You can learn about FrogWatch and RiverWatch and the work of biologists to protect the federally endangered piping plover.. Muskrats and armadillos are two species featured in articles this quarter.
2025 is a year of celebrating nature in Illinois, with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources commemorating 100 years as a state agency dedicated to conservation. OutdoorIllinois Journal will be featuring articles throughout the upcoming year to highlight the ongoing work of the agency and all of the, perhaps overlooked, achievements of its 100-year corporality.
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May 1, 2025 | hundredth, regulations
A Century of Hunting and Trapping in Illinois
Kathy Andrews Wright
2025 marks 100 years since the Illinois Department of Conservation (now Natural Resources) was formed. In that century, much work has gone into establishing laws and regulations to protect Illinois’ hunting opportunities. Take a walk down memory lane and learn how conservation efforts compare between IDNR’s inception in 1925 and now!
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May 1, 2025 | mammals, research, wetland
Mighty Muskrats: Natural bird conservationists?
Leo Chan Gaskins
Help often comes from unlikely sources! Take muskrats, whose lodge-building habits may seem destructive to habitat, they are helping other organisms in their ecosystem to thrive. Research is ongoing throughout the Great Lakes wetland ecosystem to evaluate the integral impact muskrat lodges have on bird, reptile and other populations in the area.
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May 1, 2025 | birds, habitatmanagementenhancement, migration, natural-heritage-pick
Ten Ways You Can Help Migrating Birds This Spring
Carla Rich Montez
You don’t need to be a wildlife professional to make an impact! In fact, most beneficial changes, especially as it concerns migrating bird populations, can be done by individuals at and around their homes. Learn more about how you can make simple changes to better help migrating birds and minimize the impact of humans on wild populations of birds.
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May 1, 2025 | fisheries-pick, fishing
The Legacy of the Family Fishing Fair: A Community Treasure
Gretchen Steele
Avid fisherman, educator, and Site Interpreter at Pere Marquette State Park, Scott Isringhausen has spent over thirty years coordinating the Family Fish Fair to fulfill community needs of engagement in nature along with the help of over 200 volunteers. Don’t miss the opportunity to attend this year’s fair on June 8, 2025.
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May 1, 2025 | chronic-wasting-disease, deer, disease-managment, diseases, wildlifehealth, wildlife-pick
IDNR Announces New Detection of CWD in Four Additional Illinois Counties
IDNR
In early April 2025, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced that four new counties had confirmed positive detections of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Putnam, Marshall, Adams, and Peoria. This brings the total number of affected counties to 25, and boundaries are no longer contiguous or limited to the northern portion of Illinois.
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May 1, 2025 | mammals, research
On the Move: Nine-banded armadillos and their range expansion in Illinois
Nathan Proudman
The nine-banded armadillo is not a commonly found species on the Illinois landscape. But that may be slowly changing! Since 1994, the nine-banded armadillo has been recorded as a rare visitor, with the number of observations slowly rising throughout the 2000s. Researchers at Southern Illinois University are studying the cause of this range expansion and what resources are required.
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