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Statewide: Logging in the Shawnee

NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS | By Sean Crawford
Published January 22, 2026 at 2:45 PM CST
The logging in southern Illinois’ Shawnee National Forest began in August before hitting a legal pause in early September.
Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco / WBEZ
The logging in southern Illinois’ Shawnee National Forest began in August before hitting a legal pause in early September.

On this episode, the Trump Administration is using a legal shortcut to make it easier to remove trees in national forests. Illinois' Shawnee National Forest is an early battleground against the increasingly popular tactic to fast track timber sales across the country.

Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco reports from southern Illinois.

Also:

* Rich Egger speaks with a Pulitzer Prize winner about his new book examining the damage humans have done to the land and waters of rural Iowa.

* Erin Allen has the story of a book at Chicago's Public Library, which was put into circulation after the Great Fire of 1871. It can still be checked out today.

* Emily Hays has the story of a student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who is working on his Master's Degree. He was also formerly incarcerated.

* Peter Medlin talks with English teacher Nichole Folkman about some of the books students loved the most in 2025.

* We visit a now-closed museum in the Midwest that showed jewelry and artifacts made from human hair.

Lindsay Evans holds a framed hair wreath in Leila's Hair Museum in Independence, Missouri. When the museum’s founder, Evans' grandmother, died last fall, she left behind a massive collection of human hair work.
Julie Denesha/KCUR
Lindsay Evans holds a framed hair wreath in Leila's Hair Museum in Independence, Missouri. When the museum’s founder, Evans' grandmother, died last fall, she left behind a massive collection of human hair work.

* Anna Koh reports on a Champaign church that was demolished to make way for student housing. It's part of a national trend driven by the shifting demographics of religion.

* We listen to strangers brought together for conversations and what it can show us about our common humanity. The segments are part of the StoryCorps project One Small Step.
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