On July 10, 2019, the voting members of the Illinois Forestry Development Council elected Dr. Eric Holzmueller as their new director and Mr. Jay C. Hayek as their new chairman.

Dr. Holzmueller, a professor of forestry at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale, replaces outgoing director Mr. Bill Gradle. Mr. Hayek, an Extension forestry specialist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, replaces outgoing chair Dr. James Zaczek.

The members of the Council and the greater forestry community would like to personally thank Dr. Zaczek and Mr. Gradle for their dedicated years of service on the Illinois Forestry Development Council.

http://ifdc.nres.illinois.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019_ifdc-final-report.pdf

July 2018 – IFDC Newsletter and Annual Report to the IL General Assembly

Illinois Forest Action Plan:  A Statewide Forest Resource Assessment and Strategy; Version 4.1

IL Forestry Development Council Newsletter and FY’16-17 Annual Report to the IL General Assembly

Press Release (pdf)

The Illinois Forestry Partnership will address the decline of trees species diversity, specifically the lack of oak regeneration, in Illinois forests. The oak-hickory forest type has been reduced by 16% since 1962 and this reduction will continue if oaks remain underrepresented in the younger age classes. This decline is the result of fire suppression; impacts of exotic/invasive herbs, shrubs, vines and trees; and a lack of applied management strategies to address soil health, water quality, and soil erosion resource concerns on nonindustrial private forest land to restore the appropriate forest cover in the oak-hickory ecosystem. The project will focus on four target areas, covering 37 counties in the State and representing 1.1 million acres of oak-hickory forest type, about half of the remaining ecosystem.

Council Newsletter and FY’15 Report to the IL General Assembly.

Download our analysis of the impact of forest products on the Illinois economy.

Forestry in Illinois – The Impact of the Forest Products Industry on the Illinois Economy: An Input-Output Analysis (2012)