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Winter Exploration Day
Saturday, March 1,
noon - 4 pm
Dan Ryan Pavilion, Grove 5
87th & Western, Chicago
Try outdoor activities for the whole family, including sledding and snowshoes (depending on conditions), fire, nature hikes, crafts, snacks and more.
One Earth Film Festival:
Green Gold
Saturday, March 8, 3 - 5 pm
Cummings Square
536 N. Harlem, River Forest
The Forest Preserves will host a screening of Green Gold (2012, 53 min), a film about healing large-scale landscapes. For festival details, visit oneearthfilmfest.org.
Third Thursdays:
A Taste of Maple Syrup Fest
Thursday, March 20,
11 am - 2 pm
Cummings Square
536 N. Harlem, River Forest
Celebrate the first day of spring and learn how real maple syrup is made. All ages. Call 708-771-1373 to register.
Photo Meet-Up
Saturday, March 22, 10 am
Little Red Schoolhouse
9800 S. Willow Springs Rd, Willow Springs
A series for photographers of all skill levels! Our naturalist will lead a tour. Capture images and share tips. Series details here.
Maple Syrup Celebration
Sunday, March 23,
11 am - 3 pm
River Trail Nature Center
3120 N. Milwaukee Ave, Northbrook
Celebrate spring with a special day of activities including crafts, games, tree-tapping and maple syrup history.
Afterschool Outdoor Adventures
Wednesday, March 26,
4 - 6 pm
Thatcher Woods Pavilion
8030 Chicago, River Forest
Calling outdoor adventurers ages 7-12! Meet up for wilderness skill building,
hiking, exploring and nature art. Call 708-771-1010 to register.
For details and a full event listing including all regular events at our six nature centers, visit our Events page.
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Kris DaPra, aka FPD 365, is taking one photo of the forest preserves every day in 2014. Here are some from February:
February 3, 2014: Morning reflection
February 7, 2014: Sunny oaks
February 24, 2014: The small but mighty (and loud) white-breasted nuthatch.
View DaPra's FPD 365 photos full-sized here...
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"The removal of dams from Wheeling to Riverside will open up more of the Des Plaines in Cook County to paddling. Shuttles running north and south from a Wheeling rental base might encourage more paddling - a 'leave-no-trace' activity - on this underused natural resource."
"There are many areas around maple lake to have a private picnic. The lake itself is beautiful and clean. The trails also offer a great hike afterwards."
"We do small things when we're out hiking like pick up trash and recycle items like cans or bottles that we see on the trails (by bringing them home and recycling them)."
These are just a few of the comments posted on our Mindmixer tool during the month of February.
Help shape the forest preserves and join the conversation today!
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A CENTENNIAL CALL TO ACTION by Forest Preserves President Toni Preckwinkle
This February the Forest Preserves' Board of Commissioners approved the Next Century Conservation Plan, a bold path for our next 100 years. I'm pleased to report that one of the plan's exciting first initiatives is already being put into action.
The Chi-Cal Rivers Centennial Initiative will recruit 6,000 volunteers to work on five large restoration projects, three along the North Branch of the Chicago River and two along the Little Calumet River.
The two-year project, a partnership with Friends of the Chicago River, Friends of the Forest Preserves and Audubon-Chicago Region, will work to restore more than 100 acres of riverside habitat, improving stability and biodiversity in areas that are bare and eroding.
Read full article and find out how you can join this important effort...
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11 SIGNS THAT SPRING'S ON ITS WAY
| It's been a long, hard winter. Need some hope?
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100 YEARS WITHOUT
THE PASSENGER PIGEON
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How we can learn from this somber centennial
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 The Forest Preserves is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2014, but this year we're also marking another centennial. On September 1, 1914, the last passenger pigeon on earth died in captivity, in the Cincinnati Zoo. It was a rare moment, to be able to observe the extinction of a species that once numbered in the billions. So somber was the demise of the passenger pigeon, it sparked the conservation movement promoting hope, stewardship and sustainable life. The Forest Preserves is one of many organizations using this tragic anniversary to teach. There are many opportunities to learn more about the passenger pigeon and how we lost such a prominent part of the natural world. - Visit A Shadow Over the Earth: The Life and Death of the Passenger Pigeon, an exhibit now showing at River Trail Nature Center in Northbrook. This free display includes in-depth panels, antique artifacts from before the species' extinction and animals that were saved from extinction by the conservation movement that arose from this tragedy.
- On Tuesday, April 8 at 7:30pm, River Trail will also be hosting a presentation by Chicago-region naturalist Joel Greenberg about his recent bookA Feathered River Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction. The book has received national attention as the first significant work about the passenger pigeon in more than 50 years. (Read reviews in the New Yorker as well as the Chicago Tribune, both by Carol Memmott and Rick Kogan.) Greenberg will bring one of the few existing taxidermied specimens of a real passenger pigeon. A limited number of books will be available for purchase and signing. Register by April 1 at (847) 824-8360. $5.
- Take part in the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum's Project Passenger Pigeon, with events, activities and information.
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Become a monitor
Nature lovers from across the county are flocking to upcoming monitor training workshops.
These free classes teach volunteers how to use their passion for wildlife to help scientists better understand the health of plants and animals in the forest preserves.
Along the way, monitors have a very special opportunity to get up-close and personal with some of Cook County's most amazing places and animal populations.
This spring, monitoring opportunities exist in each of these categories: butterflies, rare plants, dragonflies, invasive plants, and birds.
Monitoring is a great activity for a wide-array of ages and can be done throughout the county. No experience is required, simply a passion for wildlife and a willingness to complete basic fieldwork.
To learn more about monitoring and other volunteer opportunities in the forest preserves, please visit our volunteer website.
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The "shamrock" is alive and well in Cook County.
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 If you've so much as opened your eyes in the days leading up to St. Patrick's Day, you'll be familiar with the shamrock, that iconic bright green trio of leaflets that symbolizes the Irish celebration. It's said that St. Patrick used the plant to illustrate the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity back in the fifth century.
While there's some debate as to what species the shamrock actually is, there's a good chance we have it here in Cook County.
Many believe the shamrock is the white clover, Trifolium repens (pictured), which came over from Europe and has become naturalized in North America. This "three-leafed clover" is easy to find in most lawns and farm fields.
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WINTER FISH KILLS POSSIBLE
| Fisheries staff monitoring Forest Preserve lakes and ponds
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 Due to the severe weather of the past few months, our fisheries staff is reporting that "winter fish kills" may be possible at some Forest Preserve lakes and ponds. These kills are caused by heavy snow cover over thick ice, blocking sunlight from penetrating the water. The lack of light prevents the aquatic plants in the lake from producing oxygen. Reduced levels of dissolved oxygen in the water could result in the suffocation and death of fish. As the ice melts, the fish become more noticeable at the surface and along shorelines.
This natural but sometimes disturbing phenomenon is nothing new; it was the subject of the very first Forest Preserve Nature Bulletin back on February 1, 1945-69 years ago.
"If a fish kill does happen, it's typically the older or more stressed out fish that don't survive the severe winter - we don't expect to lose entire populations of any species in a lake," said Forest Preserves Fisheries Biologist Steve Silic.
Typically, fish kills are not that bad for a lake, and the fisherman should not worry about the overall health of the fish populations, Silic noted. As the snow and ice melt, fisheries staff will be monitoring waterbodies around the preserves. Stay tuned to this newsletter for more information.
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Spring Burn Season Begins
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 | | Bluff Spring Fen Prescribed Burn--November 2012 |
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