The Wild Things Conference Returns Saturday, March 1, 2025 - SOLD OUT
We’re thrilled to welcome you again to learn and share your expertise with our community. We’ve put together an exciting lineup of workshops and sessions from regional and national experts, plus meet & greets, video content, exhibitors, and sponsors. With over 140 presentations and discussion panels to choose from, the in-person program engages a diverse range of topics, research, and skills, and plenty of opportunities to meet with friends, old and new.
Thank you as well to our sponsors, scholarship supporters, and exhibitors who are all helping to make this another tremendously successful Wild Things.
Tickets for Wild Things 2025 are sold out. For additional information on the 2025 conference, visit wildthingscommunity.org.
**PLEASE NOTE: Some details are subject to change.**
NOTICE: Please be advised that photos and videos will be taken during Wild Things 2025. By attending, you consent to be photographed, filmed, and/or otherwise recorded. Your attendance on this event constitutes your agreement to the use of any resulting media by Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves for promotional, marketing, or any other purpose in perpetuity, without further approval or any compensation.
Sign up or log in to bookmark your favorites and sync them to your phone or calendar.
The Village of Downers Grove has a commitment to stormwater management, to reduce flooding, and improve stormwater quality. This commitment led them to implement a stormwater utility fee, in order to improve stormwater management throughout the Village. This fee can be reduced for landowners if they provide qualifying rain barrels, rain gardens, permeable pavers, and other projects that reduce the total volume or peak volume of stormwater, and/or improve the quality of stormwater leaving a parcel. Examples include green roofs, cisterns, and other Best Management Practices. As part of the overall stormwater management plan, the Village of Downers Grove commenced its innovative Green Streets/ Sustainable Stormwater (Bioswale) Program in 2012. The Bioswale Program is a public/private partnership developed to convert existing roadside drainage ditches into beautiful, beneficial landscape areas, at no cost to the homeowner. Each year, residents apply for a grant to construct a bioswale on their property, and funds are applied on a first-come, first-served basis. Village staff work with the homeowners to verify that the desired location is appropriate, to coordinate the design of the bioswale, and to assist in the selection of custom plants that are suitable for their site and that meet personal preferences. Upon approval, the Village prepares the site and installs live, native plants. The Village provides routine maintenance of each site, including mowing and weeding, for the first year, after which residents assume all management responsibility. Benefits of these bioswales are plentiful. The deep root systems of the native plants reduce stormwater runoff up to 30% and improve water quality of creeks and streams by filtering pollutants. Bioswales replenish ground water levels in local aquifers and reduce mosquitoes by absorbing stagnant water. They save time and money, as they require less watering and mowing than traditional landscaping, which also reduces air pollution. The bioswales enhance aesthetics while attracting wildlife, such as birds, butterflies, bees and dragonflies. Due to the success of these bioswales, consistent increases in homeowner applications to the Program have been noted.
