A little good nature news, for a change...

[j d worthington]

Trust unveils nature preserve in Ill. - Yahoo! News

Title: "Trust unveils nature preserve in Ill.", from AP, datelined Fri., Apr. 20, 2007:

GRAFTON, Ill. - About 430 acres of forests and limestone bluffs at the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers will become a scenic nature area that preservationists say will be a haven for endangered or threatened species.

The Palisades Preserve — along Illinois Route 100, or the Great River Road — will comprise the region's largest chunk of privately owned, undeveloped land, said Alley Ringhausen, head of the nonprofit Great Rivers Land Trust.

The trust bought the land from Alton-based Adams Development Co., which had owned it for about 40 years, with the help of a $3 million loan from the national Conservation Fund.

The trust will repay the loan with the help of gifts from two private foundations, and anticipated support from several St. Louis-based corporate foundations. The property was deeded to the Lewis and Clark Community College Foundation, while the trust retains a conservation easement to the property.

There's more to the story, but I think here, at least, we should see whether it may be appropriate to applaud those corporate foundations.....