| On December 9, 2009, UDPREP held its annual meeting at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois. UDPREP's President Patty Werner opened the meeting by having all attendees introduce themselves and tell about their relationship with the river. During this time, a slide show featured many historic images of the Upper Des Plaines River.
Success Stories
Ms. Werner then shared highlights of the many successful projects within the watershed which were undertaken by our various partners.
Electing Officers
Dues-paying members cast their ballots for Executive Committee officers. Members unanimously re-elected:
- President:
Patty Werner, Lake Co. Stormwater Management Commission
- Vice President:
Rob Flood, North Shore Sanitary District
- Treasurer:
Nick Huber, Lake County Forest Preserve District
- Secretary:
Tom Ganfield, Baxter & Woodman
Lake County Vision for Land Preservation
The Land Conservation Partners of Lake County has developed a vision for land preservation in Lake County. The vision statement is “To realize a Lake County Landscape where, by 2030, at least 20% of the County is preserved forever as natural areas, parks, trails, farmland, and scenic views”. UDPREP is one of the partners and all have been asked to individually adopt the vision statement. During the annual meeting, UDPREP members voted unanimously to adopt the vision for land preservation in Lake County. More information about the Lake County Vision is available for review on our website: http://www.upperdesplainesriver.org/documents/LakeCountyVision.pdf
Featured Speakers
The theme for this year's meeting was Sustainable Agriculture. We learned about the many aspects of sustainability, what needs to be done to fix a broken system of food production, and what is being done today to protect our food and our watershed.
Our featured speaker was Rory Klick, M.S., Assistant Professor of Horticulture/Department Chair at the College of Lake County. She has championed the development of community gardens for many years and is responsible for starting a community garden at CLC. Her presentation is available for viewing online, using the link on the right.
Our second speaker was Tony Titus, who farmed in Lake County, first with his family and then on his own farm, for well over 40 years. Although retired from local farming, he continues to manage a family farming operation in central Illinois and is very active in the movement to preserve Lake County farmland and our farming tradition. He is also quite active with the Liberty Prairie Conservancy and the Avon Township Food Pantry.
Thank you!
We would like to thank the following individuals and organizations who made the 2009 Annual Meeting possible:
Hosts
Rory Klick
College of Lake County
Volunteers
Paul Culhane
Jeff Mengler
Lydia Scott
Mildred Todd
UDPREP Officers
Patty Werner
Rob Flood
Nick Huber
Tom Ganfield
UDPREP Coordinator
Jill Hughes
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