Wild Things 2025

A prairie rescue in 1989 saved Buffalo Grove Prairie and led to formation of the Buffalo Grove Prairie Guardians. 35 years later, we are still a close knit community of stewards trying to maintain the extraordinary diversity of the prairie. We'll discuss the challenges we face stewarding such a high-quality but small remnant. These include prescribed fire under transmission lines, long-term battles with woody and herbaceous invasive vegetation, altered hydrology, species loss, and collaboration between volunteer stewards, land owners and contractors. This talk will include trends based on 20 years of transect data and anecdotal evidence from our long term experience on the prairie.

The Illinois Big Tree Register (IBTR) is a statewide outreach program that seeks to discover, record, recognize, and appreciate the largest individuals of our native tree species. Chris Benda will discuss his role in updating the IBTR and show photographs of some of the most impressive trees in the state.

The Clark Street Beach Bird Sanctuary (CSBBS) is on Lake Michigan just south of the Northwestern University campus. The two-acre CSBBS was created in 2015 by connecting existing migrating bird habitats to include part of the beach. In addition to many regular volunteers who monitor migratory birds, plant, weed, and water, we have ongoing relationships with local companies, churches, and student groups for special workdays; we work with summer camps, including one for indigenous youth; we collaborate with the city on activities; and we engaged a garden club in designing a new natural area to replace an overgrown area. In our prominent site we also have frequent conversations with passersby. All these serve to increase education about natural habitat and conservation as well as improving the sanctuary. We will share our methods for engaging the Evanston community, which may be useful for other small natural areas.

ComEd is an electric transmission and distribution company in Northern IL with approximately 127,000 acres across which Vegetation Management and Environmental Service Department make land management decisions independent of or in partnership with stakeholders. An estimated total of 15,000 acres is believed to be restorable or remnant greenspace with potential for preservation or restoration. To prevent outages, maintain safety, and be stewards of the environment, ComEd intends to maintain its Rights of Way free of incompatible woody species and seeks partnerships to restore them to provide safety, reliability, and be a good neighbor and steward. Sr. Program Manager Kelvin Limbrick will share ComEd’s process, progress, and partnerships across Northern Illinois.

Since 1910, conservation and environmental studies have been an integral part of Scouting America (formerly the Boy Scouts of America). Scouts have rendered distinguished public service by helping to conserve wildlife, energy, forests, soil, and water. Past generations of Scouts and their adult advisors have been widely recognized for undertaking conservation action projects in their local communities. A panel of three Scouts from the Pathway to Adventure Council will share their experiences with environmental explorations and conservation service projects.

Community engagement comes in many different forms for The Morton Arboretum’s Chicago Region Trees Initiative (CRTI) program, and our community partners are the foundation of CRTI. CRTI’s Stewardship and Tree Ambassador programs take a bottom-up approach to urban forestry, working with more than 40 groups in 2024 to get over 2,800 trees planted in the Chicago region. These collaborative approaches contribute to increasing local capacity for tree advocacy and care, as well as improving the health of our urban forests. In this presentation, we will share the adaptive and creative ways we collaborate with community partners.