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- Subject: News Release
- From: Mark Sklair <mardair@dcni.com>
- Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1998 14:49:54 -0500
News Release For Immediate Release Live on the Internet! The Death of a Forest Downers Grove, IL July 23, 1998 Advocate Health Care Systems is destroying an ancient oak forest in Downers Grove, Illinois. Live coverage of the destruction is available to witness at the following link <http://www.concentric.net/~Mardair/pdha.htm>, or by searching for the keywords "Lyman Woods" in the Excite or Webcrawler search engine sites. Hear the sounds of the chain saws and the crash of trees falling to the forest floor! See the grandeur of an ancient oak forest turned to sawdust! Witness firsthand the avarice and greed of a major health care corporation! Gail Lord, Nature Conservancy Steward for the area, said, "I find it ironic that a corporation which sponsors a program called ‘Living Edens’ on PBS is destroying a living eden right here in Downers Grove. This oak forest is a rare natural resource in Illinois and the world. How can a so-called ‘faith-based organization’ be so cruel in destroying one of God’s rare gifts?" The 7.5 acres of forest slated for destruction contains 300 large trees and thousands of woodland plants. These include an endangered plant, known as the Wood’s Sedge, which has been documented in this forest. These woods are being destroyed to make way for a 100,000 square foot Wellness Center, which will have parking space for nearly 300 cars. John Banaszak, a local educator, said, "The forest is adjacent to the Lyman Woods Forest Preserve, which includes a small fragment of oak savanna woods. These public woodlands will be significantly impacted by the destruction of trees on the nearby Wellness Center property. Dr. Darrel Murray, Professor of Biology at the University of Illinois-Chicago, has calculated that the loss of habitat will accelerate loss of biodiversity eightfold. In addition, 4 of 7 hardwood species in the public lands will die out due to loss of colonizing sites on the Wellness Center property. In the end, the public lands will degrade to such an extent that they will no longer be oak savanna. Instead, it will just be another patch of weed-infested woods, populated by starlings, sparrows and possums." For additional information, contact David McConkey, Chief Executive of Good Samaritan Hospital at (630) 275-1120 and Steven Derks of Advocate Health Care Systems at (630) 990-5388. Submitted by Pierce Downer’s Heritage Alliance. P.O. Box 422, Downers Grove, IL 60515, (630) 964-0245 . ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- Mark Sklair Mardair Design Studio mardair@cris.com Visit our website at <www.concentric.net/~Mardair>
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