get involved

Advocate	Explore	Volunteer	butterfly

Advocate

Friends works hard to advocate for good policy decisions at the Forest Preserve Board and to get the right resources to Preserves that need them, but we need your help.

Advocate for your local preserve. Tell us your concerns by emailing alice at fotfp.org and we'll see if we can help. Often we know exactly whom to talk to at the District to help get something done.

Feel free to send us a copy of your emails or letters (or notes from telephone calls) to local Maintenance Superintendents, Forest Preserve Commissioners, or Forest preserve Police, often the best way to communicate. Also send us copies of their responses. This way, we can acknowledge the District staff and encourage their responsiveness and efforts.

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Explore

Membership Events & Tours

Join us for a guided tour or event. Tour space is limited and registration is required. For more information, directions, and to RSVP, please contact Kathryn Callaghan, Constituency Director, at (312) 356-9990 by 5 p.m. on the Friday prior to the tour. Tours are $5 for members and $10 for non-members.

Earth Day in Calumet
Saturday, April 18 from 10 a.m. to noon
Celebrate Earth Day with Friends by volunteering at Powderhorn Prairie on Chicago’s southeast side. Volunteers will remove invasive brush from prairie and savanna habitats located on sand ridges left by ancient Glacial Lake Chicago. A dutch-oven cookout and celebration will follow the work.

Spring Woodlands and Wildflowers at Deer Grove
Sunday, April 26 from 10 a.m. to noon
Join steward Pete Jackson of the Deer Grove Natural Area Volunteers for a walk through the county’s very first forest preserve near Palatine. Deer Grove’s high-quality woodlands harbor beautiful spring wildflowers. Depending on the weather, we may see hepatica, trillium, bloodroot and wild geranium. 

Birding and Touring at Bartel
Saturday, May 9 from 7:30 to 9 a.m.
and 9 to 11 a.m.
A haven for grassland birds like bobolinks, Henslow’s sparrows and short-eared owls is being created on 380 acres of old fields near Matteson. Site Steward Dick Riner will lead a two-part program to introduce members to this restoration site. Early risers are invited to bring their binoculars for birding at 7:30 a.m. Or come at 9 for a tour of the restoration. Feel free to register for just the birding, the tour, or both.

Friends’ 1st Annual Golf Outing
Wednesday, June 10
Friends 1st Annual Golf Outing will take place at George Dunne National in Oak Forest on June 10. The course will be reserved for this all-inclusive play-your-own-ball event. See next page for details.

Watch for more listings to come later in the year.

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Volunteer

Join us for a clean up or a ecological restoration workday.

Ecological restoration consists of invasive species removal, trash collection, prescribed burns, or gathering seeds from a prairie or woodland to restore the natural health of the ecosystem. It’s a chance to get outside, meet new people and enhance our local ecosystems.

Friends helps to organize ecological restoration workday at the following sites in Calumet (for a full listing download the schedule):

Beaubien Woods ("Beaubien Woods" exit 69 off of Bishop Ford/I-94) on the first Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. Contact Laurel Ross at (312) 665-7443.

Dan Ryan Woods (87th and Damen in Chicago) on the second Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. Contact Benjamin Cox at (773) 398-1178.

Powderhorn Woods (on Brainard, just south of Burnham on Chicago’s southeast side) on the third Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. Contact Alice Brandon at (312) 356-9990.

Friends will also be helping to organize volunteer workdays in the Calumet Region at Zander Woods, Jurgenson Woods, Kickapoo Woods, Greenlake Savanna, and other sites in the region. For more information call (312) 356-9990 or download the schedule.

Restoration workdays also take place throughout the county every weekend. Take a look at the Forest Preserve District of Cook County volunteer website (co-sponsored by Friends) to explore local groups and workdays closest to you, and get involved today.

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