...what I envision for the future of conservation is that it is integrated into every aspect of our life. That we don't make decisions for the next seven generations, we make decisions for the next seventy." Nippersink Creek after District de-channelization e昀昀orts. David Bradburn/Fork the Man Productions about not owning the future, but understanding that became “Trail of History.” The event ran for 25 years you're borrowing it, and if you're any kind of person, you and focused on historical human relationships with the return it in better shape than you borrowed it.” land, looking at history through a conservation lens Collins has always been a visionary with a knack for and showing the public what could be lost if a road creative problem solving and an eye on the future. was built through Glacial Park. When asked what he 昀椀nds so special about a place like • Through work to preserve Powers-Walker House and McHenry County Conservation District that would inspire Wiedrich Barn, Collins formed a close bond with the him to stay at the organization for the entirety of his Wiedrich sisters, who returned to Glacial Park weekly, career he says, “Painting. Every morning, when you get preferring the well water they grew up on to the “city up and you work for the Conservation District, you get a water.” As he learned about the history of Glacial brand-new canvas, and that canvas is the future, and you Park from them, he began to realize the necessity of get to paint the future with the work that you do, and preserving these stories and this history. He helped that’s something you don’t get out of most jobs. Here, to formalize the District’s historical archives program, the palette of your colors is limited only by your own capturing oral history from those who knew the land imagination and your own passion for the work that you before it became a Conservation District site. do. So, I've been fortunate. I've had a blank canvas every And while Collins likes to learn from the past, he is always morning I get up and it says the same thing: what are you looking to the future. “I am excited about the future going to paint today?” of conservation because conservation is no longer the And if his work is paintings, then Collins has a museum’s purview of just the hunter and the 昀椀sherman and the worth. His brush has touched innumerable canvases. hiker and the bird watcher. Conservation—the land, the Here are just a few more notable works to admire in his earth—it belongs to all of us. And what's happening in gallery: conservation is two generations of teaching and bringing • In 1986, he 昀椀rst knowledge to people and having environmental saw the need for education in the schools. It's made people understand more native seed to that they live within a much larger system and it not only complete restoration belongs to them, but they have a responsibility for its projects. When survival. So what I envision for the future of conservation suppliers could not is that it is integrated into every aspect of our life. That provide what was we don't make decisions for the next seven generations, needed, he began we make decisions for the next seventy,” he says. the District’s seed Ed, second from the left, in the District seed nursery. Although he believes the outlook is positive, it doesn’t nursery, which later evolved into the seed collection mean the work is done. He shares advice for those program as the District restored and preserved prairies following him, and for future conservationists yet to throughout the county. enter the 昀椀eld: “You have to give a voice to the voiceless, • When the Natural Resources Department was formed, and that voice is stronger than I've ever heard it before. Collins was responsible for documenting the species It's especially strong with young people, and that's what present on District land. Later, in the early 2000s, it makes me really encouraged. Your became clear to Collins that if these inventories were generation is smarter, faster and renro digitized they could be accessed more quickly and harder to fool and that bodes well H niv e昀케ciently, and that databases were the future. for all living things.” eK • In 1989, when plans resurfaced to run an interstate highway through Glacial Park, Collins helped organize an event called the “Kames Rendezvous,” which later 3