1998 – Friends of the Forest Preserves was formed and still works to make sure that the Forest Preserve District adheres to its mission to restore, restock, protect and preserve its natural lands together with their flora and fauna for the education, pleasure, and recreation of the public.

2002 – Friends teams up with the Friends of the Parks, the National Audubon Society, and the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club to conduct a comprehensive study on the Forest Preserve District that exposed management and governance problems and suggested solutions.

2003 – Five new reform-minded Commissioners, inspired in part by the report, are elected and a new General Superintendent is appointed.

2004 – Friends becomes a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and hires its first staff member, Executive Director Benjamin Cox, who remains with the organization today.

2005 –Friends works with Commissioners Mike Quigley and Larry Suffredin to update the District’s Land Policy in order to protect forest preserve land, which is unanimously adopted by the Board of Commissioners.

2005 –Friends begins working with The Field Museum and others to revive ecological stewardship efforts in Calumet in an effort to help neglected natural areas in southeast Cook County.

2005 – Friends blocks a proposed 23-acre land grab by Mittal Steel in south suburban Riverdale.

2006 – Friends helps lift the moratorium on ecological management by volunteers from the last few sites, allowing restoration to commence there after 10 years of neglect.

2006 – After years of working with the Chicago Environmental Law Clinic and Northwestern University, the Village of Hodgkins adopts Friends’ solution to save a globally-rare dolomite prairie and oak woodland from being destroyed by a storm water erosion gully.

2006 – Fpdccvolunteers.org, which Friends developed in partnership with the District, goes live, providing a one-stop shop for volunteering in the forest preserves.

2007 – Friends partners with The Student Conservation Association to launch its pilot program to train minority interns in ecological management. The program is hailed as a model program by the U.S. Forest Service.

2008 – Friends works with allies at the Chicago Legal Clinic to investigate dumping at Miller Meadow Forest Preserve, where nearly 80 acres have been turned into a landfill.

2008 – Friends launches a campaign with The Civic Federation to create a Board of Forest Preserve Commissioners that is separate from the Cook County Board.

2009 – Friends partners with The Student Conservation Association to create a high school internship program. The inaugural class of 56 paid interns restores land, improves trails, and learns about conservation.

Today – With a staff of three and a growing membership, Friends of the Forest Preserves is a strong advocate for our county’s natural lands. Please join us!