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.