Many other environmental groups deal on a policy and legislative level, but Dunesland is a grassroots, hands-on organization which is down in the environmental “ditches.” We work on current environmental issues while pursuing the polluters and regulators who continue to desecrate one of the most important ecological areas in the Midwest. Since the 1910’s, the environmentalists and scientists who eventually co-founded the park have been the stakeholders, stewards, and custodians of Illinois Beach State Park, the first state-dedicated nature preserve in the United States. Current members, contributors, and supporters of Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society still share a unique and special interest in this valuable ecological preserve with Dunesland’s founders. This park has the highest number of endangered species of any park in the state. Unfortunately, it has suffered severe desecration and destruction to its unique federal and state critical habitats. Politicians and special interest groups have corrupted the process of environmental checks and balances, gridlocking environmental groups that work against ecological degradation. A potential Fukushima sits on the Illinois shoreline where a nuclear accident or terrorism could happen. Special interests are controlling the demolition of our lakefront nuclear plant, leaving unprotected storage silos that are being built on the shoreline next to one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world. Pollution of our near shore Lake Michigan waters continues unabated. Microscopic asbestos, pharmaceuticals, and other toxic chemicals are constantly being flushed into our precious drinking water. Flora and fauna are losing their habitats in federal and state preserves due to erosion and non-enforcement of government regulations and negligence of state and federal regulators. As an example of how poor enforcement of laws to protect the public affects the region, deadly, invisible, microscopic asbestos from the Johns Manville Superfund site and its surrounding area has been deposited on the beaches of Zion, Waukegan, Lake Forest, Highland Park, Glencoe, Winnetka, Kenilworth, Wilmette, Evanston, and Chicago for decades. You would not want your children or grandchildren to play in it – but they probably do! Sacred, ancient Native American sites are being desecrated by man's negligence and need our protection.
