About Us
Blueprint for Growth
Blueprint Focuses on High-Yield Ecotourism, Strategic Infrastructure, and Long-Term Financial Diversification
Infrastructure & The "Eco-Stay" Model
Immediate growth engine is transitioning from a "day-trip" destination to an overnight retreat. This increases the "per-visitor" revenue and establishes the preserve as a legitimate vacation spot
Revenue Diversification & "The Green Economy"
True blueprint builds multiple "profit centers" that feed back into the 501(c)(3) mission. Physical and digital shop featuring products from local Pembroke farmers and artisans (honey, timber crafts, organic produce), with CESLC taking a small commission to cover marketing.
Our Initiative & Legacy
What We Do
The Preservation Goal-Ecological Restoration
The Preservation Goal-Ecological Restoration
We manage the Callie Mae Spraggins Savanna Nature Preserve, ensuring that one of the last large-scale high-quality ecosystems in Illinois remains protected. Our team facilitates scientific research, environmental stewardship, and community engagement.
The Preservation Goal-Ecological Restoration
The Preservation Goal-Ecological Restoration
The Preservation Goal-Ecological Restoration
Biodiversity Defense-We actively manage the "Callie Mae Spraggins Savanna" to protect 13 state-listed species. By removing invasive brush and performing controlled burns, we ensure that the Yellow Wild Indigo and Primrose Violet—species found almost nowhere else in Illinois—continue to thrive.
Habitat Connectivity-Serving as a "conservation bridge," our 5-acre dedicated nature preserve links the Carl N. Becker Savanna with IDNR lands, creating a contiguous 43-acre landscape of protected habitat for migratory birds and rare wildlife.
Economic Catalyst: Ecotourism & Investment
The Preservation Goal-Ecological Restoration
Cultural Heritage: The Legacy of Black Farming
Destination Development: By establishing high-quality trails and the region’s only "unplugged" cabin retreats, we tap into a growing 2026 market for sustainable travel, drawing overnight visitors who invest in the local economy.
Sustainable Job Creation: CESLC provides direct employment in land management, equestrian services, and park administration. We prioritize local hiring, turning conservation expertise into a viable career path for Pembroke residents.
Cultural Heritage: The Legacy of Black Farming
Cultural Heritage: The Legacy of Black Farming
Cultural Heritage: The Legacy of Black Farming
Honoring Our Roots: Pembroke Township is the largest historically Black farming community north of the Mason-Dixon line. Our initiative celebrates this history by integrating traditional land-stewardship techniques with modern environmental science.
Ancestral Stewardship: We utilize the ingenuity of the formerly enslaved people who first settled this land, showcasing how they thrived in sandy soil and reinforcing the deep, historical identity tied to the Kankakee Sands.
Educational Innovation: The Living Classroom
Cultural Heritage: The Legacy of Black Farming
Educational Innovation: The Living Classroom
Science-First Programming: In partnership with organizations like Openlands and Illinois Audubon, we provide a technical curriculum for K-12 students. Our programs turn the savanna into a laboratory for botany, floristic inventory, and climate resilience study.
Interactive Seed Beds: We maintain specialized seed beds used to teach sustainable horticulture. This program not only educates but also helps propagate native species to be used in restoration projects across the county.
Community Hub: Quality of Life Improvements
Cultural Heritage: The Legacy of Black Farming
Educational Innovation: The Living Classroom
Youth Empowerment: Through our partnership with Catalyst, we offer leadership training and after-school programs that provide a safe, constructive environment for local youth to develop professional skills.
Wellness & Recreation: By providing free access to residents of Kankakee County, we offer a natural space for physical exercise, mental health "unplugging," and family-centered recreational activities like horse-riding and hiking.
The Savanna Sustainable Housing Project
High-Performance, Low-Impact Design
High-Performance, Low-Impact Design
High-Performance, Low-Impact Design
Eco-Modular Homes: We advocate for "Small-Footprint" modular homes designed specifically for sandy terrain. These units utilize pier-foundation systems that preserve the native ground cover and rare root systems of the savanna, minimizing the ecological disruption traditional basements cause.
Solar-First Infrastructure: Recognizing the rural nature of Pembroke, our initiative prioritizes off-grid or hybrid solar arrays for every unit. This eliminates high utility burdens for low-income residents and ensures energy resilience during regional power fluctuations.
Climate-Resilient Materials
High-Performance, Low-Impact Design
High-Performance, Low-Impact Design
Recycled & Local Components: We promote the use of fire-resistant, sustainable materials that can withstand the unique dry-mesic conditions of the area. By utilizing reclaimed wood and "green" insulation, we reduce the carbon footprint of the construction phase while providing superior thermal regulation.
Passive Solar Heating: Homes are oriented to maximize natural light and heat during Illinois winters, significantly lowering the "cost of living" for community members on fixed incomes.
The "Agri-Housing" Model
High-Performance, Low-Impact Design
Economic Empowerment & Workforce Housing
Integrated Food Forests: Every housing cluster includes a community-managed "Sand Prairie Garden." These gardens provide residents with access to fresh produce grown in specialized raised beds, addressing the "food desert" challenges often faced by distressed rural communities.
Water Conservation Systems: Our initiative implements advanced greywater recycling and rainwater harvesting. This protects the delicate high water table of the Kankakee Sands while providing free irrigation for resident gardens.
Economic Empowerment & Workforce Housing
Collaborative Partnerships: Strategic Expansion
Economic Empowerment & Workforce Housing
"Build-to-Own" Training: In partnership with local trade organizations, we offer a vocational component where community members can participate in the construction of their own homes. This provides valuable "green-collar" job skills in solar installation and sustainable carpentry.
Equitable Land Stewardship: We work with the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission to identify "buffer zones" outside of core protected areas where sustainable housing can be placed, ensuring that low-income families have the dignity of living in a world-class natural environment.
Community Stewardship & Longevity
Collaborative Partnerships: Strategic Expansion
Collaborative Partnerships: Strategic Expansion
Land Trust Partnerships: To prevent predatory speculation and ensure permanent affordability, this initiative utilizes a Community Land Trust (CLT) model. This keeps the land in the hands of the nonprofit or the community while allowing residents to build equity in the home structures.
Educational Integration: Residents of the SSHP become "Savanna Stewards," receiving specialized training from CESLC on how to live in harmony with rare species like the Ornate Box Turtle, turning the community into a living example of sustainable cohabitation.
Collaborative Partnerships: Strategic Expansion
Collaborative Partnerships: Strategic Expansion
Collaborative Partnerships: Strategic Expansion
Regional Advocacy: We serve as a key member of the Kankakee Sands Conservation Opportunity Area, working alongside the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission to secure state and federal grants that benefit the entire township.
B2B Synergies: We work with local hotels, restaurants, and vendors to provide "all-inclusive" experiences for our visitors, ensuring that the revenue generated at the preserve flows directly back into Pembroke’s small businesses.
Protecting the Planet Together
Foundational Article
Stewarding the land for family and nature: The Spraggins family land ethic
One aspect of a land ethic is time. Time spent blooming season after season, generation after generation in one place, can foster a connection with the land, or as Aldo Leopold once called it, a land ethic.
We at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service want to shine a light on one family who planted themselves in the sand prairies and black oak savannas of central Illinois and share a little about why they love this special place. Please take a moment to learn how the Spraggins family is growing their generational connection to nature.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1984, Ronald Spraggins, official steward of the family property, reflects on how his childhood memories intertwined with his family's land. "My fondest childhood until present-day memories are how we would escape the hustle and bustle of the city and gather on any area of the 41 acres we own in Pembroke Township.”
As he sees it, nature is a teacher. “It gives me not only a sense of inner peace but educates me about all the things that are a part of nature: soil, sunlight, water, insects, plants, animals, all that was here before us, and hopefully, after us," he reflects.
Ronald acknowledges the importance of having protected species on his family's land. “They are essential simply because they were thought to be extinct. We also have endangered species, and anything in danger of never being seen again is something to be shared.”
Named by his mother and uncle as the official steward of the family property, Ronald sees the importance of protecting native plants and other species that make their land home, like ornate box turtles, regal fritillary butterflies and the yellow wild indigo plant. With all their land in its natural state, the Spraggins family hopes to steward and protect these areas for future generations while providing ecotourism opportunities in support of their local community.
Another Spraggins family connection to their land is the joy they share when gathering there. It’s a place for recharging, relaxing and releasing, as Ronald describes it. They meet on their land for family reunions, camping, horseback riding and simply for the comfort of each other's company. Their land is essential for reconnecting with each other and ensuring that all is well with everyone.
You might be asking yourself how private land relates to a national wildlife refuge managed by the federal government. As Refuge Manager Cassie Skaggs sees it, conservation-focused private lands like these are a beautiful complement to the work that she is shepherding at the refuge.
In the late summer of 2022, Cassie started a position as the new refuge manager for Kankakee National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area. She knew that this area of the world had been drawing people from all over because of the incredible biological diversity. She has learned since then that this geography is so much more than plants and animals. It’s about people.
The Kankakee River Basin is known as a premier area for wildlife. Like the Spraggins family, people settled here and have been engaging in conservation practices because of it. While birders and other ecotourists flock to the area to see rare red-headed woodpeckers capturing insects in flight and are a welcome boost to the economy, the local community members themselves have had the most significant impact. Because of the wildlife and habitat work of local and private landowners, past and present, folks like Cassie and Ronald can work together on the shared goal.
While biologically impressive, the local community is equally rich in culture and importance, which is why this special place still exists today. This cultural treasure is steeped in a sense of well-being that folks feel when they’re out in nature. This feeling may be the soul of their land ethic. In the words of Ronald's mother, Michelle Spraggins, “Some of us don't know why we seem to be more at ease, yes, even at peace, whether it be in a backyard, a park or any open land area. One thing is for sure: we know we enjoy the feeling. While no specific thing is evident as to why we are drawn to nature or land, the conclusion in hindsight is that we are connected.”
“Each family member I’ve met has maintained a humbleness and desire to support the local community through maintaining their land ownership with thought to ecodevelopment that preserves the natural assets of the area,” notes Cassie.
In the year that she’s been in her new role as refuge manager, Cassie’s come to learn that this ownership is more than a just a deed on paper. “It’s a legacy of guardians who have stewarded this land to present day with the hope that the plants, wildlife, peace and tranquility of Pembroke will be present for future generations,” continues Cassie.
We aim to foster this feeling on and around this young national wildlife refuge. Established in 2016, Kankakee National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area is relatively new and reasonably small, comprising 66 acres of upland oak savanna. Regardless of age or size, it is founded on this recreation tradition and is open for everyone to enjoy.
Saving the Land One Step at a Time
Callie's Environmental Learning Center
At Callie's Environmental Learning Center, we offer a variety of programs to encourage sustainable living and environmental awareness. Our programs include community clean-up events, educational workshops, and advocacy campaigns. We also partner with local businesses and organizations to promote eco-friendly practices and sustainable products.
