Tornado Strikes Starhill Forest Arboretum

On May 15, Starhill Forest was struck by an intense storm, bringing extreme winds and hail that caused significant damage throughout the grounds. We are deeply grateful to report that everyone is safe, and that our buildings sustained only minimal damage.

We lost many trees, and major parts of trees, and some of them landed on top of other trees, breaking them. I am reminded of the storm disaster some of us saw during recovery at Shaun Haddock's arboretum a number of years ago, but on an even broader scale. We believe a minimum reasonable amount of arboricultural restoration work here will cost roughly $20,000-$30,000 if we do most of the ground work ourselves, not including repairs to the buildings and utilities. This has been the culmination of consecutive tree disasters following the derecho of 2023 and the record cicada emergence of 2024 (with 100 million cicadas attacking trees on 50 acres).  

We hope many of you who have been here since IOS was established at the first Conference in 1994 will remember the good and help us keep better times in your memories. And let those memories include the hundreds of oaks that have survived despite the loss of the few dozen of the finest, as well as the many other fine collections around our membership that remain unharmed. Visit as many of them as possible while you still can see them in their prime, then come back to us someday when we are back. And someday, we WILL be back, but the ancient champion tree will survive only in our memories.

Donations to help us with the restoration work are deeply appreciated. Checks should be written to Friends of Starhill Forest and sent to Starhill Forest Arboretum, 12000 Boy Scout Trail, Petersburg, Illinois 62675 USA with the donor's name and contact info. Alternatively, you can make an online donation through Illinois College by clicking on the link below (please note "Starhill Forest Arboretum" in the designation line).

Donate Here