SIUE Meridian Grant Provides Informational Signage at Bohm Woods
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Biological Sciences Professors Rick Essner, PhD, and Peter Minchin, PhD, utilized a Meridian Society grant to install informational signs in Bohm Woods Nature Preserve, an old growth forest across from campus, on Saturday morning, Jan. 23.
Local Boy Scout Adrian Hall, of Troop 216, installed a new entrance sign and several interpretive signs for his Eagle Scout project. Fellow scout Connor Coolbaugh previously built and installed an informational kiosk at the site.
“We are grateful to the Meridian Society for supporting this project,” Essner said. “Old growth forests are exceedingly rare in the eastern United States and to have one so close to campus is remarkable. Bohm Woods offers a window into Illinois’ past, and we appreciate the opportunity to educate the public and our students about this special place.”
Joining Essner and Boy Scout Troop 216 as partners on the project were the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, SIUE Department of Biological Sciences, HeartLands Conservancy and Girl Scout Troop 110.
Additionally, Bohm Woods now has a Friends of Bohm Woods group led by Noah Dell from the Missouri Botanical Garden. On Saturday, group members removed invasive plant species from the Nature Preserve.
Bohm Woods is a 90-acre nature preserve managed by the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, and includes high-quality forest habitats and grassland areas. It is located across from the SIUE Environmental Resources Training Center and allows passive recreation and limited hunting with a permit.
Photo (L-R): Noah Dell, of Friends of Bohm Woods, and SIUE Biological Sciences professor Rick Essner showing signage for Bohm Woods funded by the Meridian Society.
