Follow Betsy Leibson’s bubble that does not burst!

Often when our Wildlife Tree signs are shipped out of California we get something wonderful in return from those that installed them!  A story about another exceptional person who is doing mountains more than preserving dead trees.  Meet Betsy Leibson, founder of  Friends of the Green Bay Trail in Glencoe, Illinois.  The restoration has focused on invasive weed removal and planting natives for pollinators.  But it has become a resource for their community as well.  Bikers, joggers and dog walkers relish the opportunity for peaceful exercise!  Here are before and after photos taken from their website.

In one of the news articles about this project (which we have attached below), Betsy was quoted as saying something that struck us as a nugget of truth and inspiration!   We pulled it out for you.  Read it slowly.  And read it twice please.  It’s one of those statements that gently floats about in your head like a large, beautiful soap bubble.  A kind of looking glass.  And  like Betsy’s dream, it does not burst.  (You’ll note in one of the articles that she and her team have greater plans in mind!)  But as clear as day, you can see the truth in her words as well as its many applications.  For the Cavity Conservation Initiative, it strikes close to home.  We too, began with one small, local objective and now find ourselves with footprints in many states.  So here is Betsy on the subject of their restoration project:

“We thought it would be a couple of weekends worth of work,” Betsy Leibson says about the early days of restoring the trail with a group of friends. “But the more we did, the more we learned. We discovered that it’s not just about cutting buckthorn and leaving because you really haven’t done a good service for the environment or the community if you stop there.”

To learn more about the dreams of Betsy and her awesome team, and be inspired to follow your own restoration project, check out these two links!

http://jwcdaily.com/2015/05/06/friends-of-greenbay-trail-say-goodbye-to-buckthorn/

http://activerain.com/blogsview/4957402/bringing-the-prairie-back-to-the-green-bay-trail