This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student documentary initiative, called "Stories: Yes." The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.
Ashton-Franklin Center High School students, in collaboration with the Future Farmers of America, interview Park Superintendent Elmer Stauffer about balancing agriculture with natural areas in Illinois.
Elmer Stauffer (00:09): Elmer Stauffer, I'm the Park Superintendent. I've been with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for 41 and a half years. I was the first state employee here back in 1986, and then I've been the Park Superintendent here since that time.
Speaker 2 (00:28): All right. Why is it important to protect the areas surrounding Franklin Creek?
Elmer Stauffer (00:32): Well, the Franklin Creek is surrounded by what we call a natural area, and outside of the natural area is farm ground. If we look at the park map here, the park, the State Natural Area is pretty much the wooded area, and surrounding the wooded area is farm ground. Because we live in an agricultural community, economics of the area dictates people's livelihood depends on the agricultural ground. And because of that, our woodland areas, our natural areas over time take a backseat because they're not part of people's livelihood. Their income is not dependent on the woodlands, on the natural areas, and so it becomes a matter of priority. Farm ground income production takes the front seat, and over time, historically speaking, our natural areas take a backseat.
Elmer Stauffer (01:37): Natural areas cannot speak for themselves. Over time, there has always existed a small community of people that recognize the importance of natural areas, and beginning in about 1979, this community minded group of natural area people formed a committee, and since that time have worked to protect and improve this area as a State Natural Area. So the importance is State Natural Areas don't have a voice. They exist, they're vulnerable, and because they don't have a voice, it's like maybe your classroom situation where you have outspoken students, then you have some students that are rather quiet, and that doesn't necessarily mean the quiet students are less important, they just aren't as outspoken. And so that kind of relates to this question of what's the importance of natural areas? In the big picture, agricultural grounds are important, but the natural areas are important too. What has happened here at Franklin Grove, at the Franklin Creek State Natural Area, is that over the last 35 years or so, a community minded group of people have become the voice for the State Natural Area and have worked to preserve it.
Elmer Stauffer (03:22): Well, woodlands and wetlands make up the State Natural Area, but there's quite a bit more to it besides woodlands and wetlands. There's streams, there's savannas, there's prairie. If you look at the map here, this map makes up one large community, and yeah, there's a lot of farm ground on this map, but yes, there's all these other components that make up a community. Every one of those members in the community are important.
Asset ID: 2022.19.01
Find a complete transcript: www.museumonmainstreet.org
