Email Correspondence

Hello Brian - Not sure if you will be seeing this message.

There is a small plot of land ... ~ 10' x ~10 on the UIUC campus, on south
campus, near the Natural Resources Studies Annex. It is labeled "do not
disturb" ... and has the S~R~N~E acronym/logo on four metal signs.

Do you know anything about this?

Ron McGinley
Assistant Chief
Illinois Natural History Survey

P.S. - Steve, I found a site for SRNE on the web ... http://societyrne.net/
This is associated with a Brian Collier, who once was a student at UIUC.
Hopefully we will hear from him. -- Ron

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Dear Mr. McGinley,

The signs are part of a habitat acquisition program initiated by me as a founding member of The Society for a Re-Natural Environment. The signs were placed in the field around a groundhog burrow as an experiment to enhance a small part of the animal's habitat. The signs were intended to allow the site to go 'wild' and reduce disturbance by mowing and other disruptive human activities. This activity was initiated in 2006 while I was an MFA student at UIUC. I am pleased that the site has been allowed to develop and hope that it can continue as a small but relatively wild refuge for the animal.

Sincerely,
BD Collier, Founder and President
The Society for a Re-Natural Environment

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Thanks for contacting me, Brian - and solving our mystery.

While the site is not directly under the footprint of the new building,
there will be a lot of activity immediately around it. Construction starts
next July. We're hoping that with all the activity, the groundhog will move
itself. If not, we may have to live-trap & relocate it.

Ron Larkin, one of our mammalogists said he's sure the burrow was active as
of last fall - his dog, who has killed a number of hogs who live around the
nearby pole barns, was desperately interested in the burrow last October.

Hope we can work things out as best we can for the groundhog.

Thanks again for your information.

All best -- Ron

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Dear Ron,

Thank you for your understanding and compassion regarding the re-natural area and the plight of the groundhog. I am sorry to hear that there will be great disturbance due to construction and this will probably destroy the site. The hope of the SRNE is that once the building is finished, part of the surrounding area might be set aside to return to a 'wild' state in order to better serve the needs of the many animals that live out there, including: groundhogs, red foxes, grey squirrels, a number of small rodents, a great diversity of invertebrates, and a wide variety of birds including red-tailed hawks and kestrels. You are free to use the signs for this purpose and I am happy to send more if needed.

Sincerely,
BD Collier, Founder and President
The Society for a Re-Natural Environment

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Brian - You probably will be happy to know that the project is aimed to
achieve LEED Silver certification. Part of this is that there will be no
lawns, or irrigation systems. We will have natural/native plantings. As you
probably know, the Survey has many staff members who work on restoration
projects all the time. So, we have a good "green" base to start with.

All best -- Ron