Isoo O’Brien may be Cook County’s youngest birding expert. The 15 year old has led walks for the Evanston North Shore Bird Club and through the Chicago Botanic Garden. In May, he led walks in LaBagh Woods, part of the Forest Preserves of Cook County, for the International Migratory Bird Celebration Day. That’s where Foundation […]
“Do I have time for this?” As the executive director the Forest Preserve Foundation, a small public-private organization in partnership with a government agency, that question often runs through my mind. In early September, I attended the National Recreation Foundation’s Nonprofit Executive Leadership program. I am always eager to take part in free professional development […]
The 2018 Conservation Cup winning foursome with the trophy. Under a spectacular September sky, the Foundation held its seventh annual Conservation Cup at the George W. Dunne National Golf Course. The Sept. 13 tournament raised a record $210,000 through corporate and individual sponsorships and proceeds from a live auction and a raffle. Conservation Cup is […]
THE OUTDOOR LIFE By Erin Starkey What feeds your soul? Brings you calm during a storm? A few years ago, I realized the answer was being outdoors. I was working as the director of a mental health department for a large local non-profit. This was work that I loved and was at times also very […]
If there’s a common assessment of this summer that the Dan Ryan Woods Chicago Conservation Corps members all share, it’s that they got a lot done. “We got through seven turnpikes, a check step and three water bars, a lot of invasive species and did some seed collection,” crew leader Kailin Sepp said, proudly talking […]
On a sunny morning in late July, a stream of bright orange T-shirts makes its way to the Wampum Lake Woods pavilion in Thornton, Ill. This is the day that more than 80 Chicago teens will celebrate the end of their summer of work in the Forest Preserve Experience Program. Launched in 2016, the program […]
Forest Preserve Experience crew members cut buckthorn. By Madelyn Wilson and Rachel Urich, Forest Preserve Foundation interns It’s late July, a mild and sunny morning. A crew of teenagers is cutting and piling buckthorn near the entrance of Possum Hollow Woods. They are part of the Forest Preserve Experience, a five-week summer internship program. The […]
By Rachel Urich Forest therapy, also called forest bathing, is the ancient meditation technique of slowing down, calming your mind, and “bathing” in the forest and the energy that surrounds you. The Forest Preserves of Cook County is a perfect place to practice forest bathing techniques. Recently I tried them out myself as part of […]
Craig Billington, Forest Preserves ecologist Foundation board members and staff with Billington By Madelyn Wilson and Rachel Urich, Forest Preserve Foundation interns Craig Billington, an ecologist for the Forest Preserves of Cook County, took Foundation board members and staff on a guided tour through Thatcher Woods on recent Friday afternoon. As we headed out into […]
