25 cents 2016 The 31nd Shawnee National Forest

25 cents (quater) 2016 from the series National Parks - 31st National Forest of Shawnee, Illinois.

Obverse: In the center of the coin is a portrait of President George Washington to the left (shown in the restored version of the original portrait, used since 1932 on coin-kvarterah). Above the semicircular name of the issuing country: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in the semicircle the value of the coin is written - QUARTER DOLLAR. To the left of the portrait is minted the word LIBERTY (FREEDOM), on the right in a few lines - IN GOD WE TRUST (WE BELIEVE IN GOD) and the letter of the mint.

Reverse: in the center of the coin there is an image of the top of the trees, the rock and the soaring eagle. In the semicircle the name of the park "SHAWNEE" is written. Below on the left is the name of the state "ILLINOIS", on the right there is the inscription "E PLURIBUS UNUM" ("From many is one"). Also at the bottom is the year of coinage "2016" ..

The Shawnee Forest is located between the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Its landscape includes forests and hills, lakes and streams, beaches and dunes. Most of the land included in the territory of the National Wildlife Refuge was heavily depleted by the agricultural lands that existed there before. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, The Civil Corps of Environmental Protection was engaged in planting pines to prevent soil erosion. Besides them, deciduous trees and other plants grow abundantly in the forest, numerous animals are found: white-tailed deer, foxes, muskrats, raccoons, etc.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Regional and national environmental groups and individuals actively fought for forest conservation.

Today, the infrastructure of the forest has been created for all kinds of possible outdoor recreation. It is engaged in hiking and horseback riding, fishing, climbing, seasonal deer hunting, wild turkey, migrating waterfowl regularly opens. In the forest there are many campsites, from simple places for tents to camps with showers and electricity. Shawnee has three organized beaches along the shores of the lakes. Among them, the most famous - the sandy beach of Lake Glendale (Lake Glendale), located in the heart of Shawnee. The picturesque lake is surrounded by tall pine trees and deciduous forest.

Another attraction Shawnee - Little Grand Canyon, formed in antiquity with the melting of glaciers, which "carved out" in the rock gorge. In size, it is much inferior to the Grand Canyon of Arizona, but it is also an interesting object for research, in its deep shadow preserved relic species of arctic plants that have remained since ancient times. The river Big-Muddy flows in the gorge. Little Grand Canyon is called "the shelter of wintering snakes". Those who decided to walk along it are warned about the high population of poisonous snakes, about possible sudden floods during
Rain and the dangerous cliffs adjacent to the trail.

In addition, on the territory of the reserve there is a reservoir Cedar Lake, created in 1974, its area is 7 km ².

In all Shawnee reservoirs, water is unsuitable for drinking, as it does not meet sanitary requirements.

Released: February 1, 2016.