
				Pat Quinn, Governor

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Environmental Progress - Spring 2003

Scouts Again Tidy the Lincoln Trail - One Step at a Time

Annual hike yields a can bonanza and a ton of trash

Approximately 1,350 scouts picked up litter as they walked the 20 miles Lincoln Trail between New Salem State Park and Springfield on April 26. The pickup, the ninth year the IEPA has sponsored the event as part of the 74-year-old Lincoln Trail hike, generated 1.01 tons of trash and 60 pounds of aluminum. The aluminum will be recycled and the proceeds donated to the Abraham Lincoln Boy Scout Council. This year, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich proclaimed April 26 as Lincoln Trail Hike Day in Illinois in recognition of the efforts of the Scouts to make “Illinois a better - and cleaner – place to live.”

Scouts on the 20 mile Lincoln Trail cleanup hike

Scouts step out on the 20 mile hike that recreates the route taken by law student/store clerk Abe Lincoln between New Salem and Springfield.

While he was a village grocer and a law student, Lincoln is known to have followed approximately this same route along 20 miles of scenic trails and roadways through Sangamon and Menard Counties. Boy Scouts have been making this hike since 1926 when R. Allan Stephens, a former Springfield Scout Commissioner, originated the idea of a Lincoln Trail Hike to give the Scouts a greater appreciation of the obstacles Lincoln overcame in his rise to the presidency.

Tens of thousands of Scouts have walked the route since. Hikers earn a “Helping Keep It Cean” patch, and can count their hike participation among the required activities for at least three other Scouting awards.