Editor’s note: The photo was taken by Jill Kennay.
Natural Land Institute (NLI) presented the George and Barbara Fell Award to Ed Collins, below, at their Annual Dinner on March 20, 2025, held at The Radisson Conference Center in Rockford, IL.
The award is named after the founder of NLI, George B. Fell, and his wife Barbara. They dedicated their lives to the preservation and protection of natural areas, for rare and endangered plants. The organization recognizes outstanding accomplishments in land conservation in northern Illinois.
Collins dedicated his career to developing a deep understanding of the ecology and conservation of the woodlands, prairies, and wetlands of McHenry County. He retired as Director of Land Preservation and Natural Resources of the McHenry County Conservation District, after serving 38 years with the agency. There, he was involved in the preservation and restoration of 25,000 acres of open space! Ed played an important role in the re-meandering of Nippersink Creek in Glacial Park; in the development of the first, comprehensive spatial mapping of oak loss in the region; in the creation of the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge.
In every aspect of Ed’s work to protect natural resources, he is a proven leader that brings together volunteers, staff, partner organizations, and funding to fulfill a vision for a healthier world.
He is well known for many things:
• speaker and storyteller
• someone knowledgeable in resource evaluation and scientific data
• consensus builder
• conservation champion who advocates for the natural world!
In his speech accepting the award, Ed said, “Thank you to NLI for the honor that this evening represents to me. I will always view it as one of the high points of my four decades spent in conservation work.” He talked about the many ways he partnered with NLI over the years, and people who influenced his career, such as NLI’s Founder.
“George Fell and the companions he traveled with, his argonauts if you will, are the origin story of the restoration movement, that so many of us have devoted our lives and our passions to. Whatever your project may be, you can trace it backwards and find a connection to this same origin story. The conservation accomplishments of each of us, spring from this single narrative. We are scions born of the same tree.”
At the end of his speech, Collins encouraged everyone to continue the Fells’ efforts for the future of nature. “Sometimes all it takes to change the direction of things is the courage to stand up and speak for the land. When the natural world we live in deep communion with asks us to give voice, remember that the Earth is not without her knights and shield maidens, and today they fill this room. Thank you and may your own origin stories grow deep beauty and daring ideas, for years to come, providing the inspiration for others to find their own connection to nature.”
To read Ed Collins’s full speech, visit the news section at www.NaturalLand.org or click http://www.NaturalLand.orghere: https://www.naturalland.org/ed-collins-george-and-barbara-fell-award-recipient-responds.