Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/White Pines Forest State Park/archive1


 * The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was not promoted by User:Maralia 01:37, 25 August 2008.

White Pines Forest State Park

 * Nominator(s): Marcusmax (talk)

This is a self-nom for FA status, I am the user who started this artice, however many top users in WP:Illinois bumped this up to GA status, and now I think it deserves a spot as a FA. -Marcusmax (talk) 23:28, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

Note: nominator requested withdrawal here. Maralia (talk) 01:35, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Comments
 * This article is well written and referenced but it seems incredibly short for an FA and lacking some information that probably could be pretty easily found. For example, the history section is pretty good as are the activities and description sections, but the article could be improved with more info about the ecology, geology, and wildlife of the park. Also ecologic history would be good to and human use of the land before it became a park. For examples of state parks that are FA see Presque Isle State Park, Redwood National and State Parks, and the newest state park article to be featured Leonard Harrison State Park. I will be watching this and would love to support it when it's ready. Dincher (talk) 00:43, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Thank you for these wonderful examples, had I known all that I see now I would not have nominated this one for FA at this time. However I plan to at least try to make a geology, and wildlife section in the coming hours. -Marcusmax (talk) 00:46, 25 August 2008 (UTC)

Reluctant oppose
 * I have made 6 edits to this article and am third in contributions after User:IvoShandor (with 49, however he has retired from Wikipedia) and User:Kranar drogin (with 12, he is not very active lately). I have it on my watchlist and saw this. I have to agree with Dincher that it is not ready for FA. Comprehensiveness is a FA criterion but this is not yet comprehensive. An "Indian trail" that ran through the park and Sauk chief Black Hawk are mentioned and should be expanded on. The history does not mention the Civilian Conservation Corps or the park's inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, though they are briefly mentioned later in the article. Dolomite formations are mentioned, but there is no Geology section, the pines are mentioned but there is no Ecology or Flora and fauna section. I would love to see this as a FA, and hope it can be expanded in FAC, but fear the amount of work needed is too much. Ruhrfisch &gt;&lt;&gt; &deg; &deg; 01:15, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
 * PS Another possibly useful model article would be Black Moshannon State Park (FA) which has a NRHP historic district with CCC-built cabins (and two other NRHP districts). Ruhrfisch &gt;&lt;&gt; &deg; &deg; 01:19, 24 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I also note that the nominator has made one edit to the article (he started it - see this) and has not edited it since Nov. 2006 and has not replied here. The article has not had a peer review either. I will leave a note on User:Marcusmax's talk page asking if s/he intends to try and fix this in FAC. If not, it should be closed to let FAC resources be used elesewhere. Ruhrfisch &gt;&lt;&gt; &deg; &deg; 16:55, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

Comments on images Strong Oppose
 * Image:White Pines Forest State Park Pine Stand2.JPG - Why does this say work of the federal government in the permission field? Awadewit (talk) 04:49, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I checked one sentence at random, because I knew something about the subject, and it showed a lack of basic research and checking, and a very suspect "reference".
 * Birds include, the pine thrush, warblers, turkey, and winter-migratory birds. Everything in this sentence is incorrect. Why is there a comma after include? Pine thrush - a red link for a US bird suggests that it's wrong, no such bird. Pine Warbler? Pine Siskin? Pine Grosbeak? I don't know. warbler unlikely to be Old World or Australian, should be warbler. Turkey how do you fit a country into a state park-dreadful error? Winter-migratory birds no idea what this means - "birds that migrate in winter" is the most obvious reading, but nonsense. The wildlife section seems a bit short anyway, but just as well if this is the standard. Also, why is spam a reliable and multi-referenced source? How did this get through GA? jimfbleak (talk) 05:45, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Previous sentence - Red Squirrel - I think not. jimfbleak (talk) 08:27, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

Comments -
 * I note that this is from a periodical put out by the Illiniois Department of Natural Resources, which is in charge of the State Parks, and while the article is pretty fluffy, it's from a reliable source. While it could be better, it does fit the guidelines. I suspect this might be a better source though, although it still has the "pine thrush" error that is offending Jim above. Check with the Audubon society, etc for local wildlife links.
 * http://dnr.state.il.us/orep/c2000/assessments/rock/conserving.htm deadlinks
 * http://dnr.state.il.us/orep/c2000/assessments/rock/toc.htm deadlinks
 * http://www100.state.il.us/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=1&RecNum=5770 deadlinks
 * Otherwise sources look okay, links checked out with the link checker tool. Ealdgyth - Talk 12:56, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

Oppose - The article is entirely lacking information on the geology and ecology of the park. The wikilinking errors pointed out above by Jim are astonishing, and they have persisted since their addition to the article over a year ago. There are additional problems with prose and formatting, disparities in the text (the cabins are described first as 'the 25 cabins' and later as '13 one-room cabins and 3 four-room cabins'), and unqualified statements (what is rare about Canadian Yew?). The pictures are lovely, but this one appears to have mismatched Author and Permission information. Significant work is needed on many aspects of this article. Maralia (talk) 16:12, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.