Follow Our Progress!
Grant & Project Updates
Progress on the Illinois 14th District Community Funding Project
Catch up with our progress! View photos of work done this summer on the Underwood Project.
Nicor Grant 2024 for McConnell Park Pollinator Garden
Pollinator Garden at McConnell Park in Richmond, IL, 3 months after planting.We were pleased to receive the Environmental Stewardship Grant in 2025 from Nicor Gas. With this $5,000 grant we were able to work under the expertise of Small Waters Education, who specialize in creating pollinator gardens. Mulch, plants, equipment for maintaining the site, and a small display sign were purchased. The city of Richmond was wonderfully supportive, clearing the grass from the site to prepare for us....
Report for the USFWS Retirees Assn. Grant
The Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge are pleased to report on the use of funds ($843) received from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Retirees Association to engage local youth with conservation, Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge and the Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge (FOHNWR). The funds were used for two of our events. Monarch Family Fun Fair: This event, initiated by FOHNWR and now partnering with 13 organizations, celebrated its 8th Year in 2023. Over...
Nicor Gas Community Impact Report 2024
Nicor Gas has published their inaugural Community Impact Report, and they have featured Friends of Hackmatack.
Full Circle Foundation Grant
The Full Circle Foundation, located in Richmond, IL, is a small family-based foundation committed to helping non-profit agencies in McHenry County and other northern Illinois communities. They provide funding for educational opportunities, environmental causes, health and welfare issues, and housing and homelessness causes. Friends of Hackmatack NWR requested funding in Fall 2023 for educational display materials, and received a grant for $4,255.00 in February of 2024. The funding will...
Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Grant
The Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge is pleased to announce that restoration work is slated to begin this spring on a 50-acre parcel owned by Openlands located in the Queen Anne Core of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge. This restoration work is made possible by a Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Grant with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). NFWF is this Nation’s largest private conservation grant-maker that works with both public and private sectors to...
Nicor Gas: Farmstead Prairie Restoration
The farmstead land on the Tryon Grove Parcel will be restored to natural prairie with the help of the Environmental Stewardship Initiative Grant from Nicor. Two key workdays have really advanced this project. In October 2023 Harvard High School students took a school field trip to the Hackmatack NWR Turner site outside Genoa City, Wisconsin and collected prairie seed there for our restoration activities. (pictured below) The second event took place in November of 2023, when a USFWS training...
Restored Savanna on the Tamarack West Parcel
Restored oak savanna on the Tamarack West Parcel In September of 2023 the Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge held their Fall Gathering. Board President Steve Byers grilled hot dogs as we listened to short presentations by Cassie Skaggs, Refuge Manager, Paul Bruett and Pete Jackson, Board Members. Friends walked over to view the Tamarack West property to view land that will be restored, stretching all the way to neighboring Glacial Park. All were treated to the beautiful sight of a...
Nicor Gas, The Morton Arboretum, and the Chicago Region Trees Initiative
Pictured is the oak savanna on the Schaid Parcel. Stay tuned for before and after photos to see what our volunteers can accomplish. The savanna that will benefit from this grant is located within the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge on a site known as the Schaid Parcel. This savanna has an intact community of mature bur oaks, however the understory is severely degraded, being comprised of a continuous layer of reed canary grass and Hungarian brome, with large clumps of multiflora rose...
Community Project Funding for Illinois’ 14th District
The Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge applied for $975,000 through Congresswoman Underwood’s Community Project Funding. Watch our progress as we work on restoring wetlands and headwaters in Hackmatack NWR.
Work Continues in 2023 for the Nicor Grant
On November 6, 2022 Friends of Hackmatack volunteers celebrated the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge with a stewardship workday at Tamarack West and a sparkling cider toast at break time. photo: Pete JacksonIn 2023 we are continuing to work on removal of invasive shrubs and trees from the savannas, then we will use Nicor funds to plant with native plants adapted to being the understory of our region's oak and hickory savannas. Friends of Hackmatack...
Volunteers are Restoring Three Savannas with the Support of Nicor Gas
Richmond-Burton and Alden-Hebron high schools' students Reese, Alexis, Landon and Crysta cleared a small savanna of invasive brush on a beautiful day in December 2022. photo: Pete Jackson During 2022, six volunteer stewardship events were held at Tamarack West, beginning October 2nd, when nine volunteers, including five students from Richmond-Burton Community High School, cleared a large opening in one of three oak groves to be restored under this grant. Over the course of 2022, we tallied...
Stewardship Challenge Grant: Success!
Photo of restored savannah on the Tamarack SouthEast Site, located at the entrance to the Richmond Burton Community High School, Tryon Grove Rd., Richmond, IL.We are pleased to report that we have successfully completed this Stewardship Challenge Grant and have provided our final report to the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation (ICECF).Thank you, thank you to our generous donors and our incredible stewardship workday volunteers whose contributions reached our $7000 fundraising target...
Stewardship Challenge Grant: The Last Push
We are close to completion of a number of actions needed to meet the goals of our Stewardship Challenge Grant: — We are asking for your help to raise the last $385 we need to meet our $7000 fundraising goal. The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation will match our locally-raised funds 3:1 with $21,000 for seeds and plants to restore the savanna and prairie. Can you help us meet our goal? See below for how you can donate. — The savanna is nearly cleared of brush! We...
Stewardship Challenge Grant: Winter Work
Field north of the High School planted with prairie seeds Friends of Hackmatack is still busy working on this project throughout the winter. Accomplishments since December include: — We only need $884 more in donations to meet our fundraising goal. Then Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation will match our locally-raised funds 3:1 with $21,000 for seeds and plants to restore the savanna and prairie. Can you help us raise those funds? See below for how you can...
Stewardship Challenge Grant: November & December Workdays
Richmond-Burton High School students helping out on a Winter Work DayThank you to our volunteers and donors!With workdays held in November and December, we have now completed over 400 hours of volunteer stewardship and will receive $4000 from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation to put toward the purchase of native seeds and plants to complete our restoration work.Thanks to many generous donors, we have now also raised over $4500 in matching funds that will generate...
Stewardship Challenge Grant: Halfway There!
Thank you to our donors and volunteers! Thanks to many generous donors, we are now halfway to our goal to raise $7000 in matching funds. We have completed one fundraising puzzle and started a second. Puzzle pieces are $10 each. Scroll down for info on how you can donate by PayPal or check. No donation is too small as all are matched 3:1 by the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation. We have also conducted two successful fall workdays at the site. Twenty-one volunteers participated in...
Stewardship Challenge Grant: Goal for the Annual Meeting
Thank you to our donors and volunteers! Thanks to many generous donors, we are now two-thirds of the way to our goal to raise $3000 by our Nov. 10 Annual Meeting. We have completed one puzzle and started a second. Puzzle pieces are $10 each. Scroll down for info on how you can donate by PayPal or check. No donation is too small as all are matched 3:1 by the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation. We have also scheduled fall workdays at the site. Twenty-one volunteers joined in...
Illinois Clean Energy Community Challenge Grant
Friends of Hackmatack NWR received a Stewardship Challenge Grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation (ICECF). By fulfilling a number of requirements by November 1, 2021, Friends of Hackmatack can receive up to $27,000 from the Foundation to spend on land stewardship activities on the Tamarack SouthEast Site. The funds will be used to convert a farm field north of Richmond Burton Community High School into prairie and to plant native woodland plants,...
Friends of Hackmatack NWR
P.O. Box 413
Richmond, IL 60071
friendsofhackmatacknwr@gmail.com
Call 262-448-3558 to listen for the latest updates on upcoming activities. If you need to reach us, please leave a message and we will return your call.
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