News

Chicago Wilderness Membership Passes 200

Seven new organizations joined the Chicago Wilderness consortium in January, building the ranks to 203 members. The new members range from grassroots organizations to county agencies, and engage in everything from bi-state initiatives to managing a five-acre oak-hickory woodland.

Run entirely by volunteers, Friends of the Kankakee works on both sides of the Indiana-Illinois border for the benefit of the Grand Kankakee Wildlife Refuge with the overall goal to increase biodiversity in the Kankakee River Basin.

Friendship Village of Schaumburg is a retirement community dedicated to nurturing both its human and wildlife members. The Village owns a five-acre oak- hickory woodland and wetland; residents actively participate in its maintenance.

Kendall County Soil & Water Conservation District is a government agency working to promote the conservation and enhancement of soil, water, and other natural resources in Kendall County. It provides a range of services to foster appreciation of Kendall County’s valuable natural resources.

LaPorte County Conservation Trust is an all-volunteer organization that works to protect the biodiversity of LaPorte County in Indiana by preserving environmentally valuable land and promoting environmental education, ethics and stewardship.

Preservation of the natural, cultural, and historical assets of Lincoln Park in Chicago is what drives The Lincoln Park Conservancy. The group co-manages natural areas with native Midwestern plant communities and trains volunteers to interpret the landscape for the public.

The Team Green Environmental Network is the brainchild of local nature photographer Carol Freeman. Currently, the nonprofit organization is photographing rare and endangered species and developing a series of education and outreach materials.

Valley Lakes Community Association, a Round Lake, Illinois, homeowners’ association, owns more than 250 acres of open space, much of it high-quality wetlands. Hoping to have a positive effect on the biodiversity of its property and to become a model for neighbors, the association will conduct a wetland inventory and is restoring shoreline on two of its detention ponds.