Illinois DNR recognizes 2024 outstanding volunteers of the year

Springfield — Eleven individuals and organizations have been recognized as 2024 outstanding volunteers of the year for their efforts on behalf of Illinois DNR.

“DNR is blessed to have marvelous volunteers, and their work is vital to the operation and upkeep of Illinois state parks, historic sites, state museum facilities, and nature preserves,” DNR Director Natalie Phelps Finnie said.

The 2024 DNR outstanding volunteers of the year are listed below.

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• Gary Cope, Collinsville – Cope has been instrumental in the success of interpretive programming at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in St. Clair County. Since 2010, he has volunteered at the site’s Interpretive Center. He has given 110 tours and recorded nearly 600 hours of volunteerism.

• Kerry Novak, Earlville – Novak has volunteered every Wednesday since retiring as site superintendent at Starved Rock State Park in LaSalle County in 2019. In 2024 he contributed 125 volunteer hours as a front desk docent who assists the more than 350,000 visitors who stop by the visitors’ center annually.

• Bill Lantz, Liberty – Lantz is a committed volunteer who dedicates his vacation time away from his day job to help the Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site in Coles County prepare for its Harvest Frolic Fall Celebration.

• Robert and Marcia Shelby, West Salem – This husband-and-wife duo volunteer at Beall Woods State Park in Wabash County. They are dedicated to ecology and conservation through their work for the Illinois Natural History Survey Bird Count, Christmas Bird Count, monitoring barn owl populations, and conducting other surveys.

• Tamina Itani, Chicago – Itani manages up to 190 volunteers covering 70 shifts per week for nine weeks each year to monitor piping plovers and their nests. Itani has been instrumental in the protection of piping plovers and their habitat, creating educational materials, and establishing conservation partnerships.

• Nancy Cottom, Giant City – Cottom has volunteered at Giant City State Park in southern Illinois for the past eight years. She and her dogs, Arlow and Kelsey, greet visitors at the park and are known as Giant City’s “bark rangers.” She has done everything from answering visitor questions, general office work, and directing traffic with a smile.

• Friends of Langham Island, Bourbonnais – This organization weekly paddles across the waters at Kankakee River State Park to Langham Island to eradicate invasive species at the site. They complete this task rain or shine, including throughout the winter months.

• Menard County Trails and Greenways, Petersburg – This dedicated group helps eliminate invasive species along the hiking trails at Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site in Menard County in coordination with IDNR. They have contributed more than 1,300 volunteer hours since 2021.

• Springfield Civic Garden Club, Springfield – Members of the Springfield Civic Garden Club have volunteered more than 700 hours at the Dana-Thomas House State Historic Site in Sangamon County, decorating the house with their floral designs and contributing to the holiday experience at the site. The club has won several national awards for their design themes.

• Larry Coultas, Pana – Coultas was recognized as the 2024 International Hunter Education Association-USA Illinois Instructor of the Year. He has been a volunteer hunter safety education instructor in Christian County for more than 40 years and has educated nearly 3,300 students in more than 115 classes.

• Roseann Webb, Peru – Webb volunteers at Starved Rock State Park on behalf of the Starved Rock Foundation. She greets visitors and previously was a hike leader, contributing more than 2,400 volunteer hours to the park.