Grand Prairie Friends Land Trust
Mennonite Church of Normal, 805 S Cottage Ave, Normal, IL, 61761 Map
Live Stream Available
Public Welcome Will be Recorded Free Event Program/Speaker Presentation Wheelchair Accessible Public Restroom Free Public Parking Drinking Fountains
Note: This program will also be livestreamed. Join the livestream HERE.
True to its Grand Prairie Division roots, Grand Prairie Friends (GPF) Land Trust, a non-profit conservation land trust began in 1984 through the effort of six volunteers banding together to save a six-acre prairie remnant in Champaign County. Fast forward almost forty years and this organization now preserves, protects and promotes over 1,200-acres of natural spaces across 130-miles of east-Central IL. Join us for a visual field trip to GPF’s unique spaces including the only protected sand prairie pond in east-central Illinois; five cemetery prairies and a Coles County forest dedicated to endangered bats.
About the Speaker:
As a central-Illinois native, Sarah Livesay graduated from Eastern Illinois University and pursued a career in field biology and environmental education. For the past 20 years, Sarah’s focus has been the development and capacity building of conservation non-profit entities. Sarah has provided services to state, national and international non-profits including the Environmental Education Assn of Illinois, National Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and Japan Parks & Recreation, among others.
In 2017, Sarah was hired as the first Executive Director for Grand Prairie Friends. Since 1984, Grand Prairie Friends has served as a conservation land trust which preserves, protects and restores over 1,200 acres of natural areas across East-Central Illinois.
In her personal time, Sarah is in her ninth year as a Commissioner for the Champaign County Forest Preserve District and, along with her husband Jeff, are fledging her two sons as they leave the nest for college.