Will Meeks, Regional Director of Midwest Region, USFWS, Pete Jackson, Cindy Skrukrud, Steve Byers, Linda Oeffling & Nancy Williamson, Friends of Hackmatack NWR, Cassie Skaggs, Hackmatack NWR Refuge Manager, and Assistant Director to Will Meeks, Serena Selbo.
The Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge are excited to share the highlights of this incredible year of achievements for Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge and our 10+ years-young Friends Group. The Friends thank all of you who have supported Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge this year and over the two decades since we first dreamed of a refuge in our own backyard.
First, the Friends are pleased to welcome Ahdaab Ali and Phil Nagorny to the Refuge team – providing our Refuge Manager Cassie Skaggs with much needed support for tasks including ecological restoration, integrating our growing refuge in the USFWS system and supporting our Friends group!!
Second, with this year’s historic purchase, Hackmatack NWR will triple in size over the coming years. Your support will help us meet the new opportunities that the acquisition of Tamarack Farms brings.
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985 ACRES PROTECTED FOR HACKMATACK NWR
This March The Conservation Fund, Illinois Audubon Society, and Openlands announced acquisition of Tamarack Farms in Richmond. At 985 acres, Tamarack Farms is the largest single property purchased within the Refuge’s approved boundary. The Conservation Fund and Openlands are holding the property in trust until it can be conveyed to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as funding from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund becomes available over the coming years. Read More ➞
FRIENDS OF HACKMATACK NWR HONORED AS REFUGE GROUP OF THE YEAR
At a September Awards Ceremony in Washington D.C., Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge was recognized as the “Molly Krival – Refuge Friends Group of the Year” by the National Wildlife Refuge Association. Read More ➞
FRIENDS OF HACKMATACK NWR RECOGNIZED GREAT PARTNERS AT OUR ANNUAL MEETING
Friends of Hackmatack NWR’s November Annual Meeting provided the Friends with an opportunity to publicly acknowledge, recognize, and thank individuals and organizations that provide exceptional support for the Refuge or the Friends. The Awardees are:
Volunteer of the Year: Gil Hernandez, Jr. was recognized for his uncompromising support for the Conversación de Conservación partnership and for encouraging and inviting Latino communities to become better acquainted with our natural world.
Hackmatack Hero: The Friends recognized McHenry County Conservation District’s Kim Compton with the with the Hackmatack Hero Award for her “above and beyond” support for years of co-sponsored conservation outreach events – by always “being there” to ensure the success of the program.
Tamarack Awardees: This year the Friends recognized four key organizations with Tamarack Awards for their long-standing, steadfast, and financial commitment to the protection of Tamarack Farms. Those Awardees included Openlands, Illinois Audubon Society, The Conservation Fund, and the McHenry County Conservation Foundation.
Other individuals and organizations that also supported this acquisition included the Bobolink Foundation, James and Elizabeth Bramsen, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Hamill, Nancy Hamill Winter, and the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.
VOLUNTEERS, PARTNERS AND GRANTS FUELED OUR 2024 RESTORATION AND OUTREACH EFFORTS
Stewardship Volunteers are our Restoration Crew.
The Friends often refer to “building the refuge”. Friends of Hackmatack NWR stewardship volunteers do just that – removing invasive species, planting native species, conducting prescribed burns, conducting plant and animal surveys, and collecting/sowing seed. In 2024, 237 Friends volunteers contributed 713 hours. That number of hours represents close to nearly 5 months of full-time support by a single individual! The Friends are particularly proud of this effort, engaging students and other community members in restoring the earth.
As the refuge grows, the need for management increases. For example, the opportunities to restore oak savannas, convert croplands to prairie, and restore wetland basins at the 985-acre Tamarack Farms are vast and exciting. While the Friends and our partners have demonstrated great skill at securing grants, grant funding is expected to be more limited in the coming years, at a time when there are more acres to restore. This is why your donation means so much to the ability of the Friends to steward the Refuge.
Surveys are one way we are learning who calls Hackmatack NWR home.
Birds, bats (7 species), bumblebees (including the endangered rusty patched bumblebee) are just some of the species we are monitoring. Mussel monitoring in Nippersink Creek along Wisconsin’s Turner Tract shows us that water quality is good! Downstream more than 100 species of birds have been documented, including a nesting pair of ospreys this summer. As you visit Hackmatack NWR, share your sightings with us. We can always use more eyes!
By restoring ag fields, clearing invasive species, sowing native seeds and planting native plants, we are creating more habitat that supports wildlife.
We work with numerous outreach partners to connect people to the natural and cultural resources, rural character and scenic beauty of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge.
- Our annual chilly In Search of Eagles winter event, the ever-popular Eagles of Illinois Show, World Migratory Bird Days celebrations in the spring and October’s The Big Sit all happen because of an incredible partnership with volunteers and staff from McHenry County Audubon, McHenry County Conservation District, Illinois DNR, USFWS, the Friends of Volo Bog, and Friends of Moraine Hills State Park.
- Conversación de Conservaciónpartnership events held with Latino community members this year included planting a pollinator garden, the annual CdeC picnic, recreational events, and even a bison tour at MCCD’s Pleasant Valley site.
- Over 20 partner organizations hosted the annual Hackmatack Monarch Coalition’s Monarch Fair in August, educating over 700 family members about the incredible migrating monarch butterfly and other pollinators and how we can help them thrive.
Friends of Hackmatack’s grantsmanship supports our restoration work and community outreach.
- Our Friends group continues to direct the Nippersink Creek Restoration Project funded with a $975,000 Community Project grant through Congresswoman Lauren Underwood. This project will restore over 100 acres of wetlands on the Tamarack West parcel owned by Openlands. READ MORE
- A $10,000 grant from Nicor through the Morton Arboretum Oak Ecosystem Community Project was used to purchase seed that was sown underneath a 5-acre bur oak savanna at the south end of the Schaid parcel. READ MORE
- Friends secured a $48,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to restore 50 acres of the Otrebla property owned by Openlands. READ MORE
- Another $5000 Nicor grant was used to purchase seed for restoration of the old farmstead at the Tryon Grove site which is now part of the Refuge.
- Our Friends group’s educational outreach materials were greatly boosted by a grant from the Full Circle Foundation.
- USFWS has supplied additional funding for native seed for a number of refuge sites.
- Friends of Hackmatack NWR’s participation in the 2024 Walk for the Wild netted a $2280 grant from the Public Land Alliance which includes the $2120 Friends of Hackmatack raised from friends locally and a few from faraway. We exceeded our $1000 fundraising goal!
These funds will be put to use in 2025 supporting our community outreach activities. And thanks to those who joined us on this year’s walk to learn more about Hackmatack NWR. We even had attendees who came from Chicago to THEIR nearest refuge!