Gretchen Steele was among the five people the Illinois Conservation Foundation announced this week would be inducted into the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame this spring. That made my week because she is one of my favorite people in the small world of Illinois outdoor media and we’ve shared some experiences over the years.
The others to be inducted are Deanna Bazan, David Monk, Peter M. Murphy and Ed Pfaff.
The ICF credits Steele, who hails from far southwestern Illinois in Randolph County, with being “an award-winning outdoors photographer, a bowfishing expert, and a volunteer.” That’s a bit like saying Willie Mays hit home runs.
My favorite memory with Steele was when we did her first long paddle, a five-miler on Niangua River in Missouri, and we managed to dunk ourselves (but without ruining any equipment).
Two inductees come from the Chicago area:
- The ICF calls Bazan “an educator affectionately known as `the Outdoor Ed. Lady.” She had served as director of the Kendall County Outdoor Education Center
- Pfaff, Montgomery village forestry supervisor, “has worked tirelessly to create a forestry department dedicated to maintaining the urban tree collection, native basins, conservation education, preservation of the native species indicative of the region,” according to the ICF.
Two of the others come from Downstate:
- The late Monk is characterized by the ICF as “Through his impactful public access radio show on WEFT 90.1 FM, ecological landscape art classes at the [Art Institute of Chicago], and creative outreach endeavors like towing native prairie plants in the Champaign-Urbana Fourth of July parade, Monk’s passion for environmental education and stewardship resonated deeply.”
- The ICF described Murphy’s “career with the Illinois Association of Park Districts [spanned] more than 43 years, and his work . . . catapulted Illinois parks, recreation, and conservation to new heights of success.”
The complete press announcement is at https://dnr.illinois.gov/press-release.27056.html.
