Illinois Mixed Bag: Illinois conservation police lieutenant receives Women in Law Enforcement Leadership Award

Springfield — Lt. Audrey Hoftender was awarded the 2026 Women in Law Enforcement Leadership Award in recognition of her exceptional leadership, professionalism, and measurable impact on both her district and the communities she serves.

The Women in Law Enforcement Leadership Awards are sponsored by associations and state agencies to honor resilience and excellence in policing.

According to her nomination, Hoftender, who serves Illinois’ Northwest Zone, “has demonstrated an outstanding ability to balance complex supervisory responsibilities, operational demands, and administrative oversight while maintaining the highest standards of accuracy, accountability, and timeliness.”

Her nomination also pointed to strong community engagement and partnership-building.

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DNR Upgrading Campsite Reservation Systems

Springfield — Reservations for campsites and shelters at Illinois state parks and historic sites will transition to an updated platform beginning May 1, offering park users a more user-friendly system for making reservations and securing permits.

Users will continue to use exploremoreil.com – the customer service platform of DNR – to make campsite and shelter reservations, but they will notice an improved interface.

To accommodate the transition, electronic reservations were unavailable April 27-30. Although the system was not available to customers or staff during that timeframe, customers were able to make walk-up reservations at campgrounds.

Existing reservations for customers will automatically migrate to the new platform and will be required to use the same email to access their reservations. All customers will need to create a new account and password in the new system.

One improvement in the new system is that picnic shelters will be available on a 12-month rolling window; under the prior system, users had to wait until July 1 to make reservations for the upcoming year.

DNR, NOAA Award Nearly $1 Million in Grants

Chicago — DNR’s Coastal Management Program has awarded $970,770 in grants to Illinois organizations for coastal education, recreation, water quality monitoring, planning, design and engineering projects along the Lake Michigan shoreline. The Coastal Management Program is a federal-state partnership between DNR and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The eight grant-funded projects span the entirety of Illinois’ Lake Michigan coastline. They will empower communities, educational institutions, non-profits, park districts and forest preserve districts to improve the state’s coastal resources and engage local youth and adults in stewardship and enjoyment of Lake Michigan and surrounding natural resources.

The 2026 Coastal Grants Program grants recipients and project titles are: American Indian Center – Native Heritage Water Trail, $105,428.55; Chicago Park District – Expanding RiverLab Programming to Engage Chicago’s South and West Side Communities, $30,079; Current Innovation Inc. – H2NOW: Learn, $173,376; Friends of the Forest Preserves – Outdoors for All: Building Pathways to Conservation Careers in the Calumet Region, $155,769.32; Lake County Forest Preserve District – Lake Plain Partnership, $84,037.92; Lake Forest Open Lands Association – Coastal Network Initiative, $134,626.98; Navy Pier – Preserving Infrastructure with Environmentally Informed Resilience (PIER) Improvements Planning Project: Phase 1, $165,000; OAI Inc. – Maintaining Green Infrastructure, $122,452.54.

American Avocet Spotted at Will County Lake

Joliet, Ill. — Staff at the Forest Preserve District of Will County reported that a regular visitor spotted a surprise visitor: an American avocet.

This bird was spotted on April 15 by Laurie Lasseter and then shared to the Forest Preserve District’s Wildlife Facebook group. American avocets are not common in the region. The bird’s usual migration takes them on a path far west of Illinois, but as is sometimes the case with bird migration, some veer off course. It’s during migration that small groups of birds can pop up in unusual places. There were a number of sightings last year, but most were along Lake Michigan’s shoreline.

“Last year, there were two American avocets reported at Whalon Lake in July and three at Lake Renwick in October,” the Forest Preserve District explained on its website.

Work Starts for Wilmington Kayak Launch

Wilmington, Ill. — Earth moving has begun for a new kayak launch and parking lot on the North Island Park. Last month, a crew began moving dirt for the enhanced parking lot that will be near the north tip of the park. The project has been two years in the making after the city originally rejected a possible grant in the summer of 2021 fearing liability if someone drowned.

In 2024, DNR and Forest Preserve District of Will County awarded grant funding for the $300,000 project, costing the city about $80,000, one-third the cost. The project will feature a fully accessible floating dock, new parking lot enhancements, and an accessible path to connect the project. The city will be responsible for maintenance and winter storage for a period of at least 10 years. Engineers have said the project should be completed in about 30 days.