McHenry County Conservation District (MCCD) manages
25,000 acres of open lands in northern Illinois, including Glacial
Park, a 3,273-acre park and conservation area. Dr. Tom Simpson,
Research Field Station Ecologist for MCCD, approached
the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University
of Michigan with the proposal that a master’s project team
join him and MCCD in reestablishing a weekend-long event,
called the Weekend of Restoration, and analyzing ways to turn
the event into a sustainable annual or semi-annual program at
Glacial Park. To guide the project’s activities, objectives and
research, the team formulated a fundamental question: What
elements of event planning, marketing, implementation, and
evaluation can best create a successful, repeatable weekend restoration
program at Glacial Park? The team developed a set of
recommendations based on a combination of personal observations,
evaluation findings, background research on relevant topics,
and conversations with MCCD and other conservation professionals.
Additionally, site analyses were conducted to inform
future restoration projects by providing educational resources
via maps, teaching points, references, and activities. The project
resulted in the establishment of a 2012 event, complete with
outside funding as well as staff and volunteers registered to help
plan, market, implement and evaluate the event.