Snowmobile trail grants awarded

Snowmobile trail grants totaling more than $137,000 have been awarded to two local governments and four private snowmobile clubs to acquire and develop snowmobile trails in Illinois and to renovate trail grooming equipment.

"The grants will be used to buy a 9-mile trail in Ogle and Lee counties, provide a floating bridge across the Des Plaines River in Lake County, and enhance and maintain trails operated by snowmobile clubs in northern Illinois," said Brent Manning, director of the state Department of Natural Resources.

The Local Government Snowmobile Grant program is providing $78,500 to the Dixon Park District to buy a 9-mile trail corridor from the Village of Polo to Lowell Park in Dixon and $30,700 to the Lake County Forest Preserve District to build a floating bridge across the Des Plaines River in northern Lake County.

More than $28,400 from the Snowmobile Trail Establishment Fund is earmarked for the renovation of trail grooming equipment, trail maintenance and signage in McHenry, Lake, Kane, DeKalb, Boone, Winnebago, Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Carroll and Whiteside counties.

Application forms for the next round of grants are available by contacting the Department of Natural Resources, (217) 782-7481 or TDD (217) 782-9175. Applications are accepted March 1 through May 1.

Fire safety web page for teachers, kids

The Illinois Fire Marshal's "Fire Safe Home Page" for kids is a nifty tool for teachers, providing free fire safety resources, fun games, activities, and a poster contest. Kids can learn about valuable fire facts, the fire marshal's K-9 unit and fire department equipment. Point your browser to state.il.us/kids/fire.

Peace Corps fellows serve Illinois towns

The Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs (IIRA) at Western Illinois University is seeking rural Illinois communities to host a Peace Corps Fellow from June 1998 to May 1999.

Nine fellows with experience in community development work overseas will work on an economic or community development project to complete their graduate study at WIU, said John Gruidl, program director. "The fellows, who are returned Peace Corps volunteers, will work on projects the community has identified," Gruidl explained.

The last three years, the IIRA has placed 17 Peace Corps fellows in rural towns across Illinois, from Cairo to Morris and Carthage to Gibson City. The fellow frequently serves as a spark plug to spur local development efforts, Gruidl said.

Karen Maudlin-Curtis, whose Peace Corps service was in the Dominican Republic, worked this year in Cambridge, in Henry County. She worked on community revitalization, coordinating efforts to revise village ordinances, directing downtown beautification projects, forming a tourism and special events committee, and organizing public relations and grant writing.

Funding for the program comes from the Kellogg Foundation, the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs and participating communities and universities. For more information, contact Gruidi at (800) 526-9943 or (309) 298-2237. Applications for communities seeking to host a fellow are due by March 15. The fellows' assignments begin in June 1998.

MARCH 1998 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 5

Steps to a trophy

Deer hunters who want to know where to find those big racks will be interested in Steps Along the Hunter's Path, a new book compiled from seminars at deer and turkey expos held last year in Illinois Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.

The book is for the hunter who wants to know how big the whitetail antlers are and where those big racks come from, says promoter and publisher Glenn Helgeland of Target Communications Corp. Among its offerings: a list of trophy contest winners from each of the expos; county maps of each state showing the numbers of trophy-class whitetail deer (plus black bear in Wisconsin and black bear, elk, and turkey in Michigan) in 1996; instructions for getting your trophy measured and entered in record books; a recipe collection; help finding pockets of huntable land; a look at economical safari adventures; listings and photos of outdoor photo contest winners, and more.

Steps Along the Hunter's Path, with more than 200 pages and lots of illustrations, is available for $22.70 including postage and shipping from Target Communications, PO Box 188, Mequon, Wisc. 53092, or call (800) 324-3337. By the way, this years expo is in Peoria March 27-29.

Internet access through power outlets?

United Utilities, a power company, and Northern Telecom Ltd., a Canadian maker of telecommunications gear, say they have developed technology that would let homeowners make phone calls and access the Internet at high speeds via the electric outlets in their walls.

If it proves commercially viable, it could transform power lines around the world into major conduits for the Internet. Both say their system is ready for the mass market, after they test marketed 20 U.K households during the last year with positive results. Stay tuned.

Worth repeating

Public Utilities Fortnightly reports a recent slow-down in rail shipments of Western coal has begun to pinch the electric utility industry. The industry magazine notes the source of most of the congestion is the Union Pacific rail system, which is struggling to integrate recently acquired Southern Pacific, creating the largest rail system in the United States. "Collectively the UP provides transportation services to more than 75,000 megawatts of coal-fired generation," It reports. Some utilities are responding by cutting back on wholesale power sales and curtailing coal-fired generation during non-peak hours. Gas prices are rising as a result also, it said. "Producers and suppliers alike must be aware of related energy market activities and prepare to deal with the increased volatility in those markets that electric utility deregulation will undoubtedly cause," it concluded.

The power of methane

Australia's Appin mine uses mine ventilation air as feed gas in its electricity-producing, methane-fired internal combustion engines. The use of ventilation air, which contains low concentrations of methane, has increased overall power generation by 7 to 10 percent and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reports the Coalbed Methane Extra, a publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Greenhouse gas emission reductions are about 4.3 million tons per year of carbon dioxide equivalent. Previously, the mines simply released ventilation air to the atmosphere because it was believed methane concentrations were too low to be used productively.

"This technology can be applied universally to coal mines anywhere that have coalbed methane in their ventilation emissions," Caterpillar senior product consultant Len Lloyd told the Extra.

Co-op publication features "green" businesses

A publication by Co-op America includes 2,000 listings in 150 categories of products and services considered to be "green." The co-op is a 15-year-old non-profit organization dedicated to promoting businesses with a social and environmental agenda.

One silk clothing company, for example, convinced Colombian farmers to produce silk, which now brings them three times more income than growing coca for cocaine did. That company then taught women in Milwaukee's inner city how to earn income by weaving mittens and scarves from the Colombia silk.

The National Green Pages is available with a minimum $20 membership to the co-op, 1612 K. Street NW, Ste 600, Washington, D.C. 20006. ($15 will get you membership, but not a copy of the book.) Membership also gets you a subscription to Co-op America Quarterly.

6 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING MARCH 1998