Coming May 2016 - Chicago’s True Nature: The Forest Preserves of Cook County Forest Preserves of Cook County 2016-04-26 | Documentary premiers Sunday, May 15 at 7:00 pm on WYCC PBS Chicago.The Forest Preserves of Cook County, in partnership with WYCC PBS Chicago and Juneteenth Productions, is proud to present “Chicago’s True Nature: The Forest Preserves of Cook County.”Like many natural wonders, the Forest Preserves are “hidden in plain sight.” While the Preserves are well-known for family parties and cook-outs, many are unaware of its vast biodiversity – the flora and fauna of the urban preserves and the diversity of native plants that struggle to flourish against invasive species. “Chicago’s True Nature” takes viewers beyond the picnic groves and introduces them to the nearby wonders of nature.Despite living in one of the most densely populated urban areas of the country, Cook County residents are surrounded by nearly 70,000 acres of open space managed by the Forest Preserves. This documentary highlights the conservation and research initiatives, educational programs, volunteer efforts and the wide variety of recreational activities that can be enjoyed right here in Cook County.
Osprey Propagation Program Banding Forest Preserves of Cook County 2021-12-17 | The Forest Preserves osprey propagation program started in the late 1980s to help osprey populations recover from major declines due in part to DDT insecticide use from the 1950s to early 1970s. The Forest Preserves now boasts the most successful urban osprey program of its kind in North America, with 20 osprey nesting platforms.Forest Preserves biologists monitor active nests, visiting each one in early summer to band and check on the health of the osprey chicks inside. There is a roughly 15 day period when this work can be done, so Forest Preserves biologists need keep a close eye on the osprey platforms to decide when to band the chicks.The Forest Preserves of Cook County bands birds—from sparrows to sandhill cranes—as part of ongoing research that helps track ecosystem health, migration patterns, and zoonotic diseases (illnesses passed between animals and humans). Forest Preserves biologists safely capture, handle and band an average of 400 birds per year.Bird banding involves humanely capturing a bird for a brief time and attaching a lightweight U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) band, usually on the bird's leg. When banding, Forest Preserves biologists also perform health workups, which may include taking measurements, determining a bird's sex, drawing a blood sample, and looking for any indication of disease.
Banding at Bakers Lake Heron Rookery Forest Preserves of Cook County 2021-12-17 | Each year, after a short boat ride from the shores of northwest Cook County’s Baker’s Lake, wildlife biologists and veterinarians visit a small island with a towering wooden rookery to conduct medical work ups and band birds. The rookery is home to about 300 nests for great egrets, great blue herons and cormorants, which flood the manmade structure in spring and early summer.The Forest Preserves of Cook County bands birds—from sparrows to sandhill cranes—as part of ongoing research that helps track ecosystem health, migration patterns, and zoonotic diseases (illnesses passed between animals and humans). Forest Preserves biologists safely capture, handle and band an average of 400 birds per year.Bird banding involves humanely capturing a bird for a brief time and attaching a lightweight U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) band, usually on the bird's leg. When banding, Forest Preserves biologists also perform health workups, which may include taking measurements, determining a bird's sex, drawing a blood sample, and looking for any indication of disease.
Red-tailed Hawk Release Forest Preserves of Cook County 2021-12-17 | Red-tailed hawk captured, banded and released at Deer Grove.The Forest Preserves of Cook County bands birds—from sparrows to sandhill cranes—as part of ongoing research that helps track ecosystem health, migration patterns, and zoonotic diseases (illnesses passed between animals and humans). Forest Preserves biologists safely capture, handle and band an average of 400 birds per year.Bird banding involves humanely capturing a bird for a brief time and attaching a lightweight U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) band, usually on the bird's leg. When banding, Forest Preserves biologists also perform health workups, which may include taking measurements, determining a bird's sex, drawing a blood sample, and looking for any indication of disease.
Snowy Owl Release Forest Preserves of Cook County 2021-12-17 | In January 2018, reports of snowy owls—rare visitors from the Artic—hanging out at Chicago's lakefront and in southern Cook County circulated among birders. Forest Preserves biologists observed one of the birds at Orland Grassland lingering near a marsh and decided to try to band the bird.Visiting early one morning as the sun came up, they quickly baited a trap about 130 feet from where the bird was perched. The snowy owl instantly swooped down to the bait and found itself caught in their trap. Biologists completed a health work up and banded the bird, while getting quite a thrill seeing this unique visitor up close during their brief 20-minute encounter.The Forest Preserves of Cook County bands birds—from sparrows to sandhill cranes—as part of ongoing research that helps track ecosystem health, migration patterns, and zoonotic diseases (illnesses passed between animals and humans). Forest Preserves biologists safely capture, handle and band an average of 400 birds per year.Bird banding involves humanely capturing a bird for a brief time and attaching a lightweight U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) band, usually on the bird's leg. When banding, Forest Preserves biologists also perform health workups, which may include taking measurements, determining a bird's sex, drawing a blood sample, and looking for any indication of disease.
Wild & Wonderful Teaser Forest Preserves of Cook County 2021-11-29 | Wild & Wonderful is a nature program introducing children to the wonders of Cook County’s natural world. Each episode will feature a Forest Preserves of Cook County naturalist or programming staff teaching about native plants and wildlife, with activities to experience nature at home, in the community or on a visit to the Forest Preserves.
30 Seconds at Salt Creek Woods Forest Preserves of Cook County 2020-12-14 | Salt Creek Woods Nature Preserve features remnant oak savanna and oak-hickory woodland, with floodplain forest lining the creek. Walk along the unpaved portion of the Salt Creek Trail through the heart of the preserve and spot a small prairie, along with the marsh and sedge meadows that provide critical habitat for wildlife.
Belonging: Forest Therapy Walk Forest Preserves of Cook County 2020-11-20 | As a thank you to our Forest Preserves volunteers, we invite you to go on an audio-guided forest therapy walk celebrating you. This guided practice is centered on belonging, as we all belong to nature. It’s an opportunity to slow down, relax, and enjoy the sensory delights of the natural world that you care for. We welcome you to take this forest therapy walk in a local forest preserve, or any outdoor place you like, where you can experience a fall breeze, see a tree, or simply admire an indoor plant. Here, we offer different ways to connect to the living world and provide an opportunity to let nature support you. The walk is informed by the Japanese outdoor wellness practice often called forest therapy or forest bathing, which is a translation of the Japanese phrase, shinrin-yoku. The cornerstone of this practice is an easy-paced, sensory-focused walk. This walk—designed by Kimberly Ruffin, a trained nature and forest therapy guide—is a 30-minute sample of the practice. As with any experience in nature, be smart about where you are. Use common sense, trust your intuition, and tell someone where you’re going. Kimberly will serve as your guide throughout this practice. A guide can play an important role in forest therapy by serving as a witness or nonjudgmental supporter, allowing participants to enrich their own experiences by sharing them with another. Kimberly would love to serve as a privacy-respecting witness to what you experienced on the walk. Please feel free to contact her through her website, cardinalencounters.com.This project was made possible through a generous grant from the National Recreation and Park Association – Heart your Park Program. 00:00 Introduction03:20 Pleasures of Presence16:23 Sharing17:19 What's in Motion18:37 First Peek20:39 Beneath Our Feet21:51 Attunement22:49 Close
30 Seconds at Wampum Lake Forest Preserves of Cook County 2020-11-10 | The sandy soil of Wampum Lake supports unique plant life such as skunk cabbage and cinnamon ferns. Loons, eagles and osprey stop over at the preserve on their annual migration south in fall. Spring brings colorful flowers such as wild geranium, phlox and toothwort, as well as birds such as red-breasted mergansers, great blue herons and warblers.
30 Seconds at Powderhorn Lake Forest Preserves of Cook County 2020-11-10 | Tucked away in the far southeast side of Chicago, Powderhorn Lake boasts woodland, prairie and wetland habitats and reflects the ecological richness that survives in similar pockets across the industrialized Calumet region. The lake and surrounding lands are popular among anglers, nature lovers and birders.
30 Seconds at Burnham Prairie Forest Preserves of Cook County 2020-11-10 | The wetlands at Burnham Prairie are attractive breeding grounds for marsh birds, including common gallinule, Virginia rail and American bittern. Restoration efforts here focus on protecting the mix of marsh, wet sand prairie and savanna that keeps these birds coming back to raise their young.
30 Seconds at Cranberry Slough Forest Preserves of Cook County 2020-11-10 | Cranberry Slough Nature Preserve includes one of only a handful of peat bog ecosystems in Illinois, cradled by rolling upland woods. This relic of the glacial era supports habitats uncommon this far south. There are 35 miles of unpaved trails in the area to see the native plants and wildlife.
30 Seconds at Eggers Grove Forest Preserves of Cook County 2020-11-10 | The land where Eggers Grove now stands once lay under the waters of Lake Michigan’s larger ancestor, Lake Chicago. As the water retreated, it left behind sand ridges. Between the ridges, long wetlands formed. Today, Eggers is a unique habitat, combining dry, wooded ridges where spring wildflowers thrive with long, narrow wetlands filled with sedges, marsh grasses, emergent forbs and waterfowl.
30 Seconds at Bartel Grassland Forest Preserves of Cook County 2020-11-10 | Formerly an agricultural field divided by hedgerows, 585-acre Bartel Grassland is a flat, wet landscape that is now home to an increasing variety of native plant and bird species. An observation area with a mound allows visitors to see how restoration efforts have encouraged natural processes.
Nature Scout Hike Forest Preserves of Cook County 2020-07-22 | Naturalists explore Rolling Knolls forest preserve in Elgin, IL.
Build Your Own Gnome & Fairy Homes Forest Preserves of Cook County 2020-06-10 | Building gnome and fairy homes encourages children to use their creativity and problem solving skills while getting them out in a natural setting. This activity works best in a backyard or neighborhood park, allowing access to various natural items such as grass, trees, dirt, rocks, etc.
Forest Preserves of Cook County Feel Free PSA Forest Preserves of Cook County 2017-06-21 | June 2017.
6-Year-Old Volunteer Adopts Picnic Grove Forest Preserves of Cook County 2017-05-02 | If 6-year-old Morgan can make a difference in the preserves… you can too! Learn more at fpdcc.com/volunteer.
100 Years / 100 Events Thank You Forest Preserves of Cook County 2015-10-23 | From September 20 to 27, 2015, we hosted over 100 events during our 100 Years / 100 Events centennial celebration. Thank you for your support and participation!
What is 100 Years / 100 Events? Forest Preserves of Cook County 2015-08-31 | More: http://fpdcc.com/100eventsThe Forest Preserves of Cook County has been protecting and restoring land for 100 years, but preserving nature is only half our story. The other half is written by you, and how you choose to explore and connect with your preserves.From September 20 to 27, 2015, we’re hosting over 100 events for our 100 Years / 100 Events centennial celebration. Join in one, or several, of the activities happening near you and start writing your part of the Forest Preserves story!
Eagle Scout Project Sinks PVC Pipe for Fish Forest Preserves of Cook County 2015-07-31 | Tenth grade Eagle Scout candidate Jason Mueller, members of his Boy Scout troop and Forest Preserves Fisheries staff spent a recent July morning at Axehead Lake sinking 16 elaborate structures constructed from five gallon buckets filled with concrete and adorned with protruding PVC pipes and tubing. A variation on a design used by Fisheries since the early 2000s, Mueller’s structures are meant to mimic underwater aquatic vegetation. At the bottom of the lake, plants and algae begin growing on the structure and, after some time, what was once exposed plastic tubing and PVC pipe will soon be covered in green, masquerading as a strange, angular underwater shrub. Read more: http://fpdcc.com/eagle-scout-project-sinks-pvc-pipe-for-fish
Inside an Osprey Nest (& Flying Fish Attack) Forest Preserves of Cook County 2015-07-02 | See a Forest Preserves biologist carefully remove the osprey chicks from the nest… and an adult osprey try to drop a fish on her. Learn more about why we band osprey chicks and see photos here: http://fpdcc.com/how-to-band-an-osprey-in-10-photos-and-a-video
Meet Our Skunk Forest Preserves of Cook County 2015-04-01 | Skunks are wild animals and an important part of our local ecosystem. They're best appreciated from a distance, but there is one good place to see this species up close: River Trail Nature Center in Northbrook. Watch our video, then come meet one of the forest preserves’ resident ambassadors in person!Plan your visit: http://fpdcc.com/river-trail-nature-centerPlease note: It is illegal to take any animal from the wild (your yard included!) to keep as a pet. The educational ambassador animals at our nature centers are subject to state and federal regulations that ensure they will be given proper care and used to educate the public.
New Skier Learns Lessons the Hard Way at Sagawau Forest Preserves of Cook County 2015-02-06 | We sent one of our staff members out to the groomed trails of Sagawau Environmental Learning Center in Lemont to try cross-county skiing for the first time… it wasn’t pretty, but it was fun! The ultimate lesson? First time skiers should take advantage of Sagawau’s ski lessons! Sagawau also provides ski rentals, a beautiful lodge and groomed and tracked trails. More at http://fpdcc.com/skiHave your own skis? During winter, cross-country skiing is allowed in all areas of the forest preserves (except golf courses and most nature centers).
Toni Preckwinkle Opening Remarks (Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years) Forest Preserves of Cook County 2014-05-02 | Toni Preckwinkle, President of the Forest Preserves of Cook County Board, delivering opening remarks at the "Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years" event.In February 2014, the Forest Preserves of Cook County and the Center for Humans and Nature held a "Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years" event to explore thought-provoking questions and offer ideas critical to the future of our urban wilderness.
Julian Agyeman: Toward Just Sustainabilities (Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years) Forest Preserves of Cook County 2014-05-02 | Julian Agyeman, a Center for Humans and Nature scholar and an environmental social scientist and professor, discusses the question, "How is nature critical to a 21st century urban ethic?"In February 2014, the Forest Preserves of Cook County and the Center for Humans and Nature held a "Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years" event to explore thought-provoking questions and offer ideas critical to the future of our urban wilderness.
A Minute with Julian Agyeman (Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years) Forest Preserves of Cook County 2014-05-02 | An excerpt from Julian Agyeman, a Center for Humans and Nature scholar and an environmental social scientist and professor.In February 2014, the Forest Preserves of Cook County and the Center for Humans and Nature held a "Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years" event to explore thought-provoking questions and offer ideas critical to the future of our urban wilderness.
A Minute with Arnold Randall (Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years) Forest Preserves of Cook County 2014-05-02 | An excerpt from Arnold Randall, General Superintendent of the Forest Preserves of Cook County.In February 2014, the Forest Preserves of Cook County and the Center for Humans and Nature held a "Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years" event to explore thought-provoking questions and offer ideas critical to the future of our urban wilderness.
Arnold Randall: Centennial Plan (Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years) Forest Preserves of Cook County 2014-05-02 | Arnold Randall, General Superintendent of the Forest Preserves of Cook County, details the Forest Preserves' centennial efforts to improve the health and resilience of our native habitats, and inspire new audiences from every corner of Cook County to visit and enjoy the preserves.In February 2014, the Forest Preserves of Cook County and the Center for Humans and Nature held a "Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years" event to explore thought-provoking questions and offer ideas critical to the future of our urban wilderness.
Benjamin Barber: Democracy & Climate Crisis (Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years) Forest Preserves of Cook County 2014-05-02 | Benjamin Barber, a Center for Humans and Nature scholar and political theorist, discusses the question, "Can democracy in crisis deal with the climatic crisis?"In February 2014, the Forest Preserves of Cook County and the Center for Humans and Nature held a "Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years" event to explore thought-provoking questions and offer ideas critical to the future of our urban wilderness.
A Minute with Benjamin Barber (Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years) Forest Preserves of Cook County 2014-05-02 | An excerpt from Benjamin Barber, a Center for Humans and Nature scholar and political theorist.In February 2014, the Forest Preserves of Cook County and the Center for Humans and Nature held a "Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years" event to explore thought-provoking questions and offer ideas critical to the future of our urban wilderness.
Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years: A Panel Discussion Forest Preserves of Cook County 2014-05-02 | In February 2014, the Forest Preserves of Cook County and the Center for Humans and Nature held a "Conserving Nature for the Next 100 Years" event to explore thought-provoking questions and offer ideas critical to the future of our urban wilderness.Moderator:Steve Paulson - Executive Producer of the Wisconsin Public Radio show "To the Best of Our Knowledge." Panelists:Arnold Randall - General Superintendent, Forest Preserves of Cook CountyBenjamin Barber - Center for Humans and Nature scholar and political theoristJulian Agyeman - Center for Humans and Nature scholar and an environmental social scientist and professor
Seed Collecting in the Spring Creek Forest Preserve Forest Preserves of Cook County 2013-12-31 | Volunteers from Citizens for Conservation talk about their restoration efforts in the Spring Creek Forest Preserve in Northwest Cook County.
Salt Creek Trail - Cook County Forest Preserves Forest Preserves of Cook County 2013-12-31 | Learn about the Salt Creek Trail running through the Forest Preserves of Cook County.
Leave No Child Inside at Crabtree Nature Center, June 2013 Forest Preserves of Cook County 2013-07-09 | ...
Maple Syrup Days 2011 Forest Preserves of Cook County 2013-06-17 | River Trail Nature Center's Maple Syrup Days 2011 event was so much fun, we decided to create a video so that those who were there could enjoy it again and those who did not come can see what they missed and plan for next year! Find us on facebook, Twitter (@fpdcc) and online at www.fpdcc.com!
FPDCC Walleye Propagation Program Forest Preserves of Cook County 2013-06-17 | In 1995, the Forest Preserve District of Cook County launched its Walleye Propagation Program. Since then, it has been heralded as unique and innovative. Find out more right now!
Forest Preserve District of Cook County Raptor Presentation Forest Preserves of Cook County 2013-06-17 | On March 28, 2008, Forest Preserve District of Cook County Naturalist Dan Spencer and Hal Tyrell Trailside Museum Director Jim Chelsvig made a raptor presentation to a class at Kelvyn Park High School in Chicago. This segment is part one and includes a live American kestrel. Please be sure and view part two, which includes a red-tailed hawk.
