Wild Things 2025

Join us for a discussion about the acculturation process for newcomer populations, common integration barriers, and effective solutions using nature therapy and ecopedagogy. Presenters will describe the Refugee Education and Adventure Challenge (REACH) model, which works to increase newcomer communities' access to natural environments and outdoor learning experiences. REACH Peer Mentors (refugee youth leaders) will provide insight into the transformative growth they've experienced through deeper engagement with the natural world and others. We will also share recent outcomes of a collaborative initiative with the Forest Preserves of Cook County to connect more newcomer communities to nature. In this workshop, participants will develop an understanding of acculturation as a multi-dimensional process and consider avenues for newcomers to engage in and actively contribute to their programs, organizations, and communities.

You’ll see in the award-winning short film Watershed Warriors, Friends of the Fox River builds a watershed community of caretakers focusing on youth education; their unique niche is hosting students in local streams to discover its abundant life, collect data, and foster stewardship. Their annual It’s Our Fox River Day, covers the 200-mile watershed featuring over 50 events, including numerous municipalities and partners, involving over 1000 participants. Extensive outreach education, cleanups, celebrations, and advocacy fill their calendar. Friends of the Fox River serves as an inspirational model for individuals like you and your organizations to give your watershed a voice.

Indian Ridge Marsh (IRM) has been extremely degraded by hydrologic alteration and commercial and industrial dumping of dredged materials, slag, construction debris, and industrial waste material. Today, IRM North consists of shallow pools bounded by relatively steep shorelines, a result of the bulldozing of waste materials into the marsh. Working with the Chicago Park District, The Wetlands Initiative has restored over 3,500 linear feet of IRM North’s shoreline, reestablishing healthy gradual transition zones from upland prairie habitat down to the marsh. These new shoreline habitats are now able to support native wetland vegetation and wetland-dependent wildlife.

"Restoring The Fourth Of July"

The Prospect Heights Natural Resources Commission has a thing for the Fourth of July parades. Marching ants, a giant praying mantis, a floating egret, great blue Herons, a twelve-foot Monarch butterfly, a trumpet playing turtle, a trombone playing squirrel, twirling milkweeds, cicadas, and a twenty-foot Monarch caterpillar are just a few of the creatures from PHNRC Commissioner John Kamysz’s mind to the pavement. Working with artists Kate Tully and Mara Lovisetto of the Sunflower Group and Puppeteer Heather Killian, they oversaw an army of PHNRC regular volunteers to bring magic to the streets and elevate the natural world. Come learn how this award-winning restoration organization has earned the “BEST OF SHOW” in the Arlington Heights parade three years running and the admiration of the hometown folks in Prospect Heights.

Discover how Openlands and Access Living, recipients of the inaugural Partnerships for Disability Access, Inclusion, and Leadership Grant from the Land Trust Alliance, are working to expand accessibility in outdoor recreation. This session highlights key findings from the initial phase of the grant project, including insights from focus groups with people with disabilities in Illinois. Attendees will learn about critical challenges—such as the lack of detailed accessibility information, physical and environmental barriers, and transportation and navigation difficulties—and actionable solutions, with a focus on enhanced communication tools. With nearly 25% of the U.S. population living with a disability, this work addresses a vital need while offering practical insights into the current state of inclusive outdoor recreation. Whether you work in education, government, land management, or simply a nature enthusiast, this session will provide strategies to ensure your projects and spaces welcome people of all abilities. Join us for a conversation about making the outdoors a place of belonging for everyone.

The Chicago city lakefront is currently home to four active purple martin colonies. Martins (Progne subis) are the largest swallow in the world, the highest flying insectivore in North America, and a long distance migrant to the Amazon Basin each winter. In 2020, a collaboration between the Chicago Park District and Field Museum began to study this charismatic bird that faithfully returns to our shores each spring to mate and raise its young. Ahead of the fifth year of the research, project co-founder and CPD site monitor Lauren Nassef will share the story of the project's inception and plans for future growth.

Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPCC) has a mandate to restore 30,000 acres to the highest quality possible. Restoring land that has suffered anthropogenic degradation and countless other pressures from the globalizing world requires comprehensive land management, going beyond invasive species removal to ensure the reestablishment of native plant communities. To achieve this ambitious goal, FPCC and Chicago Botanic Garden have joined forces to lay the foundations of a native seed amplification program that will meet the FPCC’s native seed needs now and into the future. Come learn about how these two institutions are working together on this initiative and the progress made so far.