Young Activist Aids Marsh and Blanding's Turtles

On May 3 at Exner Marsh, the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission (INPC) awarded Henry Cilley a Certificate of Appreciation, and the Illinois Audubon Society named him Youth Conservationist of the Year, making him one of the youngest to win the society's honor. Henry Cilley, after all, is ten years old.

Henry Cilley. Photo by Blaire Skinner.

The honors recognize Cilley's advocacy on behalf of Exner Marsh in Lake in the Hills. Last year, Cilley's third-grade teacher Dorothy Miller read a newspaper article to her Glacier Ridge Elementary students about a commercial development that would encroach on the nesting habitat of Blanding's turtles.

Par Development was slated to build a new Walgreens store on a site adjacent to the 117-acre Exner Marsh Nature Preserve (see map) and less than a minute's drive from Henry Cilley's house. The marsh is owned and managed by the McHenry County Conservation District (MCCD). As a dedicated Illinois Nature Preserve, the marsh receives the highest level of legal protection state law can provide. "Henry started to bug the living daylights out of me about what was going to happen to the turtles," his mother Katherine recalled. Henry's classmates wrote letters to the village president that went unanswered, so he started a petition drive to encourage all involved agencies to work together to protect the turtles.

Cilley gathered signatures at school open houses, outside grocery stores, at a pancake breakfast, and after speaking to a Boy Scout gathering of 250 people. Other scouts joined the effort and circulated "Friends of Henry" petitions. Wearing a suit, the then nine-year-old Henry presented a 700-signature petition to the village board last May.

When the board disallowed the petition on grounds that it included signatures from outside Lake in the Hills, Katherine Cilley contacted the INPC. "Exner Marsh is a shallow glacial lake bed and important habitat for avian species as well as the state-threatened Blanding's turtle," noted John Nelson, northeastern Illinois threats coordinator for INPC. "One-hundred eighty years ago, this marsh was surrounded by open prairies. Ten years ago, when the INPC dedicated the preserve, agricultural fields surrounded it," Nelson observed. "Now, urban development encircles the marsh and, with this development project, the marsh will be completely surrounded by an artificial landscape. Species living in Exner Marsh have to deal with a whole new set of circumstances."

To protect the preserve and its wildlife, the INPC and other agencies consulted and negotiated with Par Development to assure that the proposed 30-acre project was carefully planned. The company recognized the likelihood of turtles wandering into the parking lot in search of nesting habitat. In response, Par Development collaborated with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the MCCD, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the INPC to develop a mitigation plan.

"Hopefully, female turtles will stay close to home if surrounded by nests," Nelson explained. In what may be the largest construction of this kind in the eastern United States — and the first in Illinois — the groups created six artificial nesting sites around Exner Marsh and on Par property. The MCCD will study the success rate of these artificial nests. If effective, the strategy may be used at other sites where the Blanding's turtle is threatened.

Par is also installing a barrier curb to prevent turtles from getting into parking areas, as well as fencing to prevent debris from getting into the marsh. Signs throughout the development will inform shoppers whom to call if they find a turtle. Fines for taking a Blanding's turtle or egg begin at $2,500. A series of mechanical filters, natural wetland filters, and holding ponds will purify runoff water from the development before discharging it into Exner Marsh.

Par Development is currently arranging to deed approximately ten acres of open space adjacent to the marsh to the MCCD. "Henry's efforts to raise public awareness about the plight of the Blanding's turtle were definitely helpful," Nelson said. "It's so unusual for a nine-year-old to step up the way he did."

"My favorite part was that I met someone very nice," Cilley quietly stated. "Al Wilson," his mother elaborated. "Al and his wife are stewards at Lake in the Hills Fen. They have become great friends, and Henry is going to monitor frogs with Al."

"He let me borrow his GPS [global positioning system]," Cilley commented. "It tells us how fast the wind is, how hot it is out, and stuff I need to know to monitor."

— Alison Carney Brown