OutdoorIllinois Journal's recent issue featured many fantastic articles about timely, natural resource-based topics. Here are six of the stories from the recent edition you don't want to miss!

Starting with game bird species, IDNR Project Manager Luke Garver details how hunter efforts and food availability can be equally important in determining how abundant the turkey population is for Illinois' Spring Turkey season. Altogether, the signs and surveys point to another good year for turkey hunters...but only Tom will tell! 

You'll also find articles highlighting birds of a different feather, piping plovers and the Asturs genus. The federally endangered, non-game piping plovers are small yet mighty birds with a dedicated group of volunteers monitoring their migration and anxiously waiting in the wings for them to return to Illinois' beaches as winter turns to spring. Additionally, the Asturs genus recently gained new members, with Cooper's hawks and American goshawks joining its ranks, thus proving that taxonomy (the science of classifying and naming organisms), like the organisms it defines, is always changing.

For readers more interested in the happenings of Illinois underwater fauna, you will find articles by IDNR fisheries biologists detailing the importance of improving water habitat and how it affects fishing success. Biologist Jim Garavaglia expands on the three main focuses of improving water habitat: establishing structures to enhance habitat, adding aquatic vegetation and improving water quality. Biologist Seth Love details how dedicated improvement of water habitat at Heidecke Lake involves annual trap netting surveys and sportfish management activities. 

You will no doubt notice signs of spring's arrival in Illinois! Along with the warmer weather comes the noticeable blooming of foliage. The serviceberry tree, identified by its delicate white blooms, provides a helping hand to many organisms in its environment—potent pollen for plants and insects and plump pomes as food for birds and mammals alike. 

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. 

This is just the beginning of the storylines you can discover in this edition of OutdoorIllinois Journal. OutdoorIllinois Journal is a collaborative effort led by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ Divisions of Wildlife Resources, Natural Heritage, and Fisheries; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration; and the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center. Funding for OutdoorIllinois Journal was made available through Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Project W-147-T, the Illinois Wildlife Preservation Fund and the Fish Management Fund.  

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