"Caring for the land and water that sustains and enriches us is not purely, or even primarily, a matter of creating economic incentives to promote conservation practices or regulations to limit harmful activities," writes Steve John of the Agricultural Watershed Institute in Decatur. "People take care of places they hold dear. Addressing environmental problems at a watershed scale requires developing communities of shared experience and values."

With these ideals in mind, Agricultural Watershed Institute will present "A Celebration of the Sangamon Valley and Its People" March 9 at Richland Community College’s Shilling Center in Decatur, an afternoon and evening program of discussion, video, and poetry, free and open to the public.

A 4:00 seminar and roundtable discussion will address ways our ties to a place and its people shape our stewardship of its resources, with a focus on the Sangamon River Watershed. Panelists will be Michelle Wander, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Department. of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences; David Wilson, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Department of Geography; and Charles Schweighauser, from the University of Illinois Springfield Departments of English, Astronomy, and Environmental Studies. Following their comments will be a roundtable discussion with the audience.

After a casual dinner and continued conversation, Charles Schweighauser will show and discuss the video "The Sangamon River: A Sense of Place." This "video documentary in the making. . . celebrates the Sangamon River and the people who live, work, and play along it from its source near Ellsworth in McLean County, to its confluence at the Sanganois Conservation Area with Illinois River at Beardstown," says Schweighauser.

"The purpose of the project is to increase the awareness of everyone living in the Sangamon Valley of the river and its aesthetic, agricultural, recreational, and cultural importance, both currently and historically. Heightened awareness of the Sangamon River will help people understand and cherish it for its presence in their lives."

Also that evening, poet John Knoepfle, professor emeritus of English from UIS, will read selections from his collection, Poems from the Sangamon (1985, University of Illinois Press).

This program is sponsored by Agricultural Watershed Institute, the Decatur Audubon Society, the City of Decatur, and the Community Environmental Council of Macon County. For more information, call Steve John, Agricultural Watershed Institute, (217) 429-3290.