Don’t miss this event where FUN meets the outdoors at Shawnee National Forest’s annual ArborWild. The drop-in event will be held Tuesday, June 5 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Evergreen Park in Carbondale, Illinois.
This year’s event will include wildland firefighters, wildlife stations, fishing, reptiles and storytelling, just to name a few. “ArborWild is a fun event that brings together many wildlife focused organizations, such as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Forest Service,” says Linda Hauser, conservation educator with Shawnee National Forest, “It’s also a great way for us to give back to the community that supports us continuously.”
Try your hand at fishing in the Carbondale Reservoir, listen to stories of local legends, and meet wildlife firefighters’ gleaming fire truck. All ages are invited to attend, but children must be accompanied by an adult. Groups of 10 or larger must pre-register by calling (618) 833-8576 by June 1.
About Shawnee National Forest
Administered by the USDA Forest Service, Shawnee National Forest is one of 155 national forests nationwide. As the only national forest in Illinois, the Shawnee offers numerous avenues for connecting with the natural world through its 280,000 acres of varied landscape. Whether your interests lie more in outdoor recreational activities, such as hiking or camping, or include learning about the unique natural and cultural heritage of southern Illinois, the fields, forests and streams of the Shawnee welcome you. To discover more about the Shawnee National Forest, visithttps://www.fs.usda.gov/shawnee. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/shawneenf and Facebook viahttps://www.facebook.com/shawneenatlforest.
The U.S. Forest Service is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a mission of sustaining the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The Forest Service’s Eastern Region includes 20 states in the Midwest and East, stretching from Maine, to Maryland, to Missouri, to Minnesota. There are 17 national forests and one national tallgrass prairie in the Eastern Region. For more information, visit www.fs.usda.gov/R9.
The U.S. Forest Service manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the Forest Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 20 percent of the nation’s clean water supply, a value estimated at $7.2 billion per year. The agency has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850 million forested acres within the U.S., of which 100 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live. For more information, visit www.fs.fed.us.
