​Restoring the Wild in Our Backyard

Living in an urban area constantly under development we hear calls for city officials and developers to plan for more green space.   The benefits of spending time in nature are well documented; reduced stress, better sleep, and overall well-being. While building and maintaining urban parks is something we still need to advocate for, since 1915 there has been a large green area on the outer belt of Chicago known as the Forest Preserves of Cook County.  Kevin Kuhn, Volunteer Program Specialist with the Forest Preserves came to the Jan. 21, 2020 meeting of the Evanston Bicycle Club to provide an update.

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Spears Woods before and after restoration

The numbers of the Forest Preserve district are impressive:

• 70,000 acres
• 300 miles of trails
• 6 nature centers
• 5 campgrounds
• 3 pools
• Hundreds of picnic pavilions

This adds up to the largest forest preserve district in the United States!  Such a large ecosystem has lots of diversity: savannas, prairies, woodlands, and wetlands.  But according to Kevin, not all green is good.  Pollution, invasive species, human development and climate change has resulted in a need to provide nature a helping hand.  Their goal is to restore 30,000 of the 70,000 acres during the second 100 years of the district’s existence through work by private contractors and volunteers.  When restored, the expectation is that native plants and animals will return.  The process of restoration is documented on their web site but basically it requires the removal of invasive plans and undergrowth manually with a back hoe or prescribed burns.  This will let light return to the forest floor allowing native plants to return from stored seeds or spread by volunteers and staff.  Wild life will return resulting in re-population by mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and insects. 
 
There is a wealth of information about the history, plans, events, and volunteer opportunities from the Forest Preserves of Cook County web site which points out ways to experience the great outdoors in our own backyard.  You can sign up for their monthly newsletter called Forest Way to stay in touch. 

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