I live in the most beautiful village in a forest. I feel thankful every day for its natural beauty and the incomparable landscape design of Frederick Law Olmsted.
But today, we owe an enduring debt of gratitude to another great man who spent decades stewarding the care and maintenance of Olmsted’s Riverside landscape: our forester, Michael Collins.
As soon as I read the Landmark article about Mike’s next excellent adventure and the fact that he is leaving us, I tried to write this post. I thought of the meaning he has brought to our lives; how many village residents he has educated about trees and their care; how he turned the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) crisis, which caused widespread devastation across Riverside requiring the village to remove thousands of infested ash trees, into a learning experience.
He developed an ongoing Reforestation Project to manage canopy loss through strict maintenance and chemical treatments. Shepherding the work of the Village Public Works Department, along with regional conservation agencies, he instituted controlled burns to manage vegetation and restore native ecosystems and habitat restoration.
Personally, he was always at the ready to work with our GS Troop 4590 to clean up local parks or Boy Scout Pack 24 to remove invasive buckthorn along the Des Plaines River.
When the now Dr. Shannon Marie proclaimed her Gold Award GS Project would be to plant 100 trees to celebrate GS’s 100th anniversary, Mike jumped on the chance to not only plant more parkway trees, but to guide Shannon through the grant-writing process to the Township, the Riverside Garden and Lions Clubs, and the permit process with the village to rent the train station, and sponsored her presentations at board meetings.
All this for one GS, but he replicated this effort and support for countless children and school Arbor Day and other events. Shannon’s “Century of Trees” project was a success. Together, they planted over 140 trees, and I will forever remember meeting him at 6 a.m. at the Public Works Department when the trees started to arrive on flatbed trucks. We saw the enormous magnitude of the project and its impact on not only the village, but Shannon’s life.
Sure, Mike has been lauded and received multiple prestigious honors for his urban forestry and conservation efforts, including the Forestry Professional of the Year Award and special recognitions, such as being inducted as a municipal director on the Board of the Illinois Arborist Association. I hope he knows that the most important of his recognitions, however, is knowing in his heart that he has forever improved this national gem of a village and our lives, enjoying his hard work and stewardship. I’m a little teary-eyed thinking of my princess grandbaby sitting with her kids one day under one of “Shannon’s trees.”
All the Layngs are eternally grateful, Mike, and wish you well. God bless and God speed.
Karen Layng
Riverside