Gov. Pat Quinn may have some good news for nature lovers.
It's expected that the governor is going to reverse a controversial move made by his predecessor by reopening seven state parks that were shut down under the Blagojevich administration.
"It was a classic case of squeezing a nickel to shut down a natural form of tourism," Michael Sneed of the Sun-Times quotes Quinn as saying. "We do not want children to have nature deficit diesorder. In Illinois we want no child left indoors."
Sneed hears that the Central Illinois parks on the list to reopen are:
- Castle Rock
- Lowden
- Hidden Springs Forest
- Illini
- Moraine View Recreation Area
- Weldon Springs
- Wolf Creek
Sneed said that Blagojevich closed the parks as a cost-cutting measure, saying at the time that he'd rather do that than cut social services.
Quinn, she says, thought the decision was ridiculous. He said, "People like to see eagles flying across the Illinios River.
The Sun-Times reports, however, that no decision has been made yet on reopening 12 historic Illinois sites, which also fell victim to Blago's axe.
