In late October 2018, the old Lone Star quarries near Oglesby, IL (owned by Buzzi-Unicem) were acquired by the state with the intent of annexing them to existing nearby state parks. A proposal to create a fossil park in a portion of those quarries has been submitted to IDNR. There will be other groups with ideas of how the property should be developed, and we hope to show IDNR there is support for the idea of a fossil park.

Please send comments on the Proposal to the following people at IDNR:

Ryan Prehn (Ryan.Prehn@illinois.gov)

George Bellovics (George.Bellovics@illinois.gov)

Dawn Cobb (Dawn.Cobb@illinois.gov)

Also, Mike Phillips (Geology Prof., IVCC) was interviewed on a public radio program on Nov 27th called “The 21st” about this subject. His interview overlapped with another guest, Kerry Novak, who is the Superintendent of Starved Rock State Park. The full program is available online at

The interview starts at minute 35.