In This Issue
Events

Stars, Stories and S'mores

Thursday, Dec 5, 5 - 8 pm

Caldwell Woods

6358 W. Devon Ave, Chicago

Bring the whole family to enjoy an evening in the woods with a fire, storytelling, snacks and other nature activities.

 

 

Christmas Past

Sunday, Dec 8, 11 am - 3 pm

Sand Ridge Nature Center

South Holland

Visit our pioneer cabins as we celebrate this joyous time of year with homemade toys, chestnuts roasting and popcorn popping in the open fire. 

 

 

Candle Lantern Hike

Friday, Dec 13, 7 pm

Sand Ridge Nature Center

South Holland

Walk the trails with us by candlelight. We'll search the night sky, listen for owls and enjoy whatever nature has to offer. Register by 12/11.

 

 

Green Holiday DIY

Saturday, Dec 14, 10 am - 2 pm

Cummings Square

536 N Harlem Ave, River Forest

Learn how to green up your holiday gift giving, wrapping and decorating. We'll have supplies, but bring any old items you'd like to transform.

 

 

Winter Solstice Celebration

Friday, Dec 20, 7 pm

Thatcher Woods

River Forest

Join us for a night of stories, activities and a walk to celebrate the start of winter. Dress for the weather. $2 per person. Register by 12/18.

 

 

 

Cross-Country Ski Trails Open

Saturday, Dec 21 (call for exact opening date)

Sagawau Environmental Learning Center, Lemont

Trails will be opened and groomed as snow conditions permit. Sagawau Nordic is open daily, 9 - 4 pm. All skiers must obtain a free trail pass. Rentals available until 2 pm.

 

 

Photo Meet-Up

Saturday, Dec 28, 10 am

Sagawau Environmental Learning Center, Lemont

A series for photographers of all skill levels! Our naturalist will lead a tour. Capture images and share tips. RSVP to 630-257-2045. 

 

 

Winter Adventure Camp

Monday & Tuesday, Dec 30 & 31; Thursday, Jan 2, 9:30 am - noon

Little Red Schoolhouse

Willow Springs

Ring in the New Year with a three-day winter adventure! Tromp around the forest with naturalists in search of winter wildlife. Warm up inside with activities and experiments. Ages 8 ���- 10. Registration required. $30 per child.

    

 

For details and a full event listing including all regular events at our six nature centers, visit our Events page.
 
Time to Create an ActiveNet Account
Make sure you're ready to buy your picnic permit on January 2

The Forest Preserves' new online permitting system, ActiveNet, will allow our customers to apply online for a variety of permits, including family and corporate picnics, walk-a-thons and much more.

 

To reserve picnic groves and request event spaces through ActiveNet, you must first set up an account.

 

Don't wait until the last minute -- do it today! 

Get Your 2014
Wall Calendar!

 

The Forest Preserves of Cook County 2014 Wall Calendar will soon be available, and it's gorgeous, if we do say so ourselves. This great stocking stuffer has everything: ducks, elk, wildflowers, redbelly snakes, snowscapes, birdwatchers and more.

 

Get yours after December 3 at our six nature centers and downtown Chicago in the lobbies of the Cook County Administration Building, the Daley Center and the George Dunne Office Building. They'll also be available at county courthouses, accompanying our touring poster exhibit.

 

The calendar is free, but supplies are limited.

 

Try This!

 

New restrooms appearing now through spring!   

 

Installation has begun on the first of ten new permanent toilet buildings in the forest preserves. The restroom at the Bremen Grove Forest Preserve in Oak Forest will open in December and nine other facilities will be installed in spring of 2014. We expect the new restrooms will offer great relief to some extremely eager preserve visitors.

 

The new bathrooms at Bremen Grove (and coming soon to Maple Lake East) are our first modern vault toilets. These non-flush toilets are widely used in national parks and employ the US Forest Service's "Sweet Smelling" technology, which disperses odor through improved ventilation driven by solar heating.

 

The other eight restrooms will be secure, single-unit flush toilets. Many are being added at widely used picnic groves that currently don't have enough options, such as Schiller Woods on the Chicago's northwest side.

 

For some good bathroom reading (including where to find our new toilets), click here...  

 

Photo courtesy CXT Incorporated.

 

 


PRESERVING RESOURCES
AT A NEW LEVEL
       
by Forest Preserves President Toni Preckwinkle

 

Last month, we launched a major effort to ensure the continued health and diversity of the natural heritage and archaeological resources of our Forest Preserves. When it's completed in December 2014, the Natural and Cultural Resources Master Plan will provide sophisticated and comprehensive guidance to our land management.

 

The project aims to assemble into one database critical ecological and archaeological data on the Forest Preserves' holdings, including previously unknown or inaccessible data. Our ecologists and planners will be able to use the map-based database to gain greater insights into the land's history and better identify trends. The plan and accompanying database will be living documents, and we'll continue to update them regularly.

 

This plan will create a strategic, science-based decision-making system to help ecologists prioritize work, such as habitat restoration and prescribed burns. It will direct development and use of preserve lands to minimize impacts. It will also provide opportunities for you, the Forest Preserves users, to access selected non-sensitive data.

 

For this important project, we're pleased to bring on board the Prairie Research Institute. This partnership will give the Forest Preserves access to more than 600 scientists and technicians who have expansive knowledge of Illinois resources.

 

The launch of the Natural and Cultural Resources Master Plan underscores our commitment to conserving the flora, fauna and historical sites in our care. As we celebrate our Centennial, we believe this plan will provide critical tools for the wise stewardship of the Forest Preserves throughout the next century.

 

 Read more about the plan here... 

THE ECOSYSTEMS OF COOK COUNTY
From sand prairies to floodplain forests, the preserves contain multitudes

 

Photo: Jeanne Muellner

 

As the crow flies, the Forest Preserves of Cook County stretch 59 miles, from Spring Lake Nature Preserve in Barrington Hills to Plum Creek Forest Preserve in Sauk Village. Acquired over a century, the preserves cover nearly 69,000 acres -- an impressive 11 percent of the entire county. These diverse and fascinating places support many distinct communities of plants and animals.

 

For the last 7,000 years or so, Cook County has been a subtly shifting mosaic of prairie, savanna, open woods and forests, rivers and bird-filled wetlands. Today's forest preserves include most of the natural communities believed to have been present in Cook County before European settlement.

 

NATURAL BEAUTY ON INSTAGRAM
See the prairies, woods and wetlands in a whole new light
The Forest Preserves are on Instagram! Follow us on this free mobile app (instagram.com/fpdcc#) to see a different side of the preserves through the seasons. Here are a few of our dispatches from the field so far:

HAVE YOUR SAY ON MINDMIXER
Online platform opens new dialogue with the public

 

Want to give your two cents on the latest Forest Preserves project but can't make public meetings? MindMixer is the newest way to make sure you're being heard by the Forest Preserves' decision makers.

The online platform allows you to participate in forums, share ideas and rate those of others, answer specific questions and pose your own. Your feedback will help inform plans and projects throughout the preserves.

 

Over the next six months of this pilot, we'll be asking for your feedback on various topics. This month's focus is on trails. Here are a few responses we've gotten so far:
  • "Leave the port-a-potties out all year."
  • "Better signs to show where you are, where the trail leads, and better describes expected use."
  • "It would be nice to be able to use the trail at night also. I could commute by bicycle if that was allowed."

We want to know what you think, too. Join the discussion at mindmixer.fpdcc.com.


DID YOU KNOW?
The world's first nuclear reactor is buried at Red Gate Woods.
Scientists at commemorative boulder at Red Gate Woods.

On December 2, 1942, scientists famously conducted the first nuclear chain reaction under the bleachers at Stagg Field at the University of Chicago. But the project soon required a more secure and isolated location for larger reactions, so the reactor was moved to the Palos Preserves in Willow Springs. For more than a decade, America's top scientists conducted cutting-edge experiments that led to the United States' development of the nuclear bomb, among other nuclear technologies.

 

The Atomic Energy Commission returned the site to the Forest Preserves in the mid-1950s. Today it's known as Red Gate Woods. After decades of intensive clean-up, the site passes annual contamination tests and is safe by all measurements.

 

By the end of December, you'll be able to visit our new interpretive signs at Red Gate Woods to further explore the site's history. You can also read about it here...  

BUSSE WOODS GETS NEW OVERPASS
Connects Busse North and South trails, improves safety

Each year, many thousands of people walk and ride the trails of Busse Woods, also known as Ned Brown Preserve, in Elk Grove Village. Thanks to a new overpass just east of the intersection of Higgins Road and the I-290 Frontage Road, trail users will now be able to complete the 11-mile red trail loop without ever having to cross Higgins at street level. The previous bike path crossed six lanes of traffic at this intersection.

 

The new overpass, which complements an earlier overpass across Higgins on the east side of the preserve, was spearheaded and funded by Elk Grove Village, with additional support from state and federal sources. This investment will carry bikers and hikers safely above the roughly 50,000 motorists a day who travel this busy stretch of roadway.

NEW PRESERVE PROFILES
We've now posted profiles on 29 of our preserves at fpdcc.com. Check out the five latest:

Forest Preserves of Cook County
Toni Preckwinkle, President

Forest Preserve District Board of Commissioners

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