Free Guided Hike – Birding for Beginners
Shawnee National Forest will offer a guided birding hike on March 29th at 8:00 a.m. along the Rim Rock National Recreation Trail. Learn how to spot birds, recognize their songs, and list your observations. Bring binoculars if you have them. This hike is beginner and child-friendly, but please leave pets at home. Limited spots are available. To register, contact Chelsea DeVivo at 618-253-1001.
The mission of the U.S. Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency 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 30 percent of the nation’s surface drinking water to cities and rural communities and approximately 66 million Americans rely on drinking water that originated from the National Forest System. The agency also has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 900 million forested acres within the U.S., of which over 130 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.)
