Director’s Message on a Centennial Celebration

As the Illinois Department of Natural Resources marks 100 years of conservation and service to the people of Illinois during 2025, I’ve been thinking a lot about my early introduction to the concepts of conservation as a child.

Growing up in southern Illinois, conservation was just a way of life for so many of the people I knew.

Most of us were either unaware of the major conservation efforts afoot by activists or we saw these efforts and their organizations as “lofty” or out of reach. Things like the Endangered Species Act, the National Aquaculture Act, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, and North American Wetlands Conservation weren’t topics of discussion.

Most of us wouldn’t have identified as conservationists because we weren’t part of these movements.

But that’s exactly who we were and who we still are.

We were taught to respect the land, air, water and animals. We hunted rabbit, quail, deer and squirrel, and we ate what we took. We gardened, eating produce from our land all summer, canning tomatoes and green beans, and putting up freezer corn to eat throughout the fall and winter.

We were taught run the water sparingly, to never litter, and to always reuse and repurpose as much as possible.

Much of our conscientious and judicious use of natural and manufactured resources was borne out of financial constraints. But, still, the lessons we learned were “Don’t be wasteful” and “Take care of the Earth and the Earth will take care of you.”

I’m certain many of you learned similar lessons as youth.

Now that I’ve been exposed to the reality of the environmental and ecological damage to our planet, I appreciate the conservationist spirit that was instilled in me as a child more than ever. The work in front of us seems daunting and can still feel out of reach, but we must continue to fight to reverse what’s been done.

While only a few will do the work of changing policies, every one of us can be conservationists in our daily lives. Every little change we make in our homes, in our workplaces, and on our property makes a difference. We must not lose sight of that.

I’ll leave you with beautiful words of a song written by my father – singer, songwriter, hunter, fisherman, frog-gigger and conservationist David Phelps:

I love to hear the early morning showers. The smell of honeysuckle (non-invasive, of course!) fills the air. When Mother Nature blooms in a proud beginning and she displays her handiwork so fair. I’m a sun-risin’, day-breakin’, dawn-lovin’ kind of a man. I wake up every mornin’ just as early as I can to see the sunrise, smell green pine, watch the dew drippin’ off of the vine. There’s somethin’ ‘bout early mornin’ that clears my mind.

As director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, I invite all Illinoisans to join us in celebrating 100 years of conserving and protecting the state’s natural resources throughout 2025. Here at OutdoorIllinois Journal, we’ll look back at our successes and we’ll also consider challenges to come in the next 100 years.

Keep an eye on our websites and social media channels for more details.