Every year we give out the Bur Oak Award. This award recognizes a member landowner who has undertaken or recently completed a project on their own land that makes outstanding progress in protecting or restoring native biodiversity. Excellence in private land stewardship is shown by the degree of leadership and innovation in the project's approach, sensitivity to the local landscape, and enhancement of the habitat of threatened, endangered or special concern species or rare plant communities. The bur oak tree, with its thick, corky bark survived the frequent fires of the oak savanna in pre-settlement times. The bur oak represents both the dominant native plant community of the region, and symbolizes persistence in the face of adversity. 

This year we present the Bur Oak Award to Jerome and Jackie Helmenstine. For the past 17 years, Jerome, Jackie and their family have been working on restoration of both woodlands and cultivated fields on the 305 acre Helmenstine family farm which has been in the family since 1897. They have multiple restoration projects in diverse habitats where they not only restore native plants but also encourage bird nesting and track the wildlife they see. This past spring we toured the woodlands where the focus is on clearing underbrush ten acres at a time, followed by overseeding with native grasses and woodland plants, as well as a young prairie in a formerly cultivated field. We look forward to visiting their other restoration projects in the future. Jerome and Jackie also have experience coordinating CREP, CRP and CCP programs for funding their restoration work.  We are pleased to present this award to Jerome and Jackie in recognition of their long term, extensive restoration work and accumulated knowledge of both habitats and funding sources.