Please click here for the link to the full list.
Read about the Million Trees Project Giveaway provided by Living Lands and Waters. This project will offer bur oaks, red oaks, swamp white oaks, and persimmon tree seedlings. There are detailed instructions on when and how to order the trees, which will be available on February 25 at 10 AM. Please check the links and follow the instructions carefully. You’ll be able to order for your own use, or for an organization.
The moving force behind Living Lands and Waters is a young man, Chad Pregracke, who started out wanting to clean up the section of the Mississippi River near his home. From that beginning, his efforts have grown substantially and he has undertaken many initiatives to clean America’s rivers, and restore the native habitat – especially the oaks. His story is an inspiring one, and readers are encouraged to find out about the accomplishments of this young man with a vision. He has inspired armies of volunteers.
There are many organizations that conduct plant exchanges. If you are participating in an exchange, advise everyone to carefully wash the roots and remove soil to prevent the possible spread of jumping worms. They strip vital nutrients from the soil, and eat the leaf litter layer. If jumping worms are present, the soil will take on the appearance of coffee grounds.
These worms present a threat to the ecology of our woodlands. Please be on the alert and do everything you can to control their spread. They can be identified by a light-colored ring.
Cornell and its partners have launched a website – 3BillionBirds – in response to reports of the alarming loss of bird populations. It includes the 7 actions people can take. Citizen science projects are suggested, (see Chicago Living Corridors listing of projects) as well as other recommendations: make windows safer; keep cats indoors; reduce lawn and plant natives; avoid pesticides; choose coffee that’s grown in bird-friendly plantations; eliminate plastics, and join bird-watching groups – share what you see. There are many Facebook pages that have great information on birds, and fabulous photos. This past summer, I was able to follow the saga of the piping plovers at Montrose beach.
There are findings and access to news reports.
Pollinator Partnership is excited to announce an extension to the online native pollinator habitat survey.
Are you committed to enhancing your land for monarch butterflies, rusty patched bumble bees and other imperiled pollinators?
Pollinator Partnership invites public land managers and private landowners with at least one acre of land who are committed to long-term conservation of monarch, rusty patched bumble bee, and other rare pollinator habitat to be a part of Project Wingspan!
Please join us in our conservation efforts for native pollinators and fill out this preliminary survey. Public Lands survey extended until Oct.31, 2019 and Private Lands survey extended until Aug. 15th, 2019
Survey: https://pollinator.org/wingspan/survey
Interested in volunteering to native collect seed for these efforts? Please join us at: .https://www.pollinator.org/wingspan/seed-collection
(Please see attachments below to share these fliers)
This is an important addition to Openlands’ effort to connect the people in Chicago to nature where they live. Openlands is a major conservation organization, and is focused on the whole metropolitan region. The “Get Outside” map offers 350 places and ways to enjoy the numerous locations. It is offered in a list version, or an interactive map version. Each location highlights the nature activities at the site. Readers can filter the map to obtain a selection of the best sites for the desired activities.
Openlands has created a wonderful new tool to learn about the nature available in the Chicagoland region.
Check Chicago Living Corridors’ extensive list of native plant sales for 2020. Included are many organizations, plus some nurseries offering native plants. Information on sale dates for a few organizations were not yet available.
Several days ago, Jerome McDonnell interviewed Doug Taron, Curator of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, and Peggy Simonsen, of Citizens for Conservation, and one of the founding members of Chicago Living Corridors. You can hear the WBEZ broadcast here .
Visitors to the website are invited to visit the Citizen Science and Resources – Links, Books, Videos – to see the new content.
We are also in the process of updating the information for the Native Plant Sales for 2019. If your organization is having a plant sale, please email goforsixcarol@gmail.com with date, place, and other information about the sale.
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune featured the success story of the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge (MPGC). This project was initiated by Michelle Obama, and the target of a million gardens has now been exceeded. We are linking to information about registering gardens, in the hopes that CLC’s partner organizations would encourage their members to participate and have sent a request for information about becoming a partner organization with the pollinator effort.
Details about the MPGC are at
http://millionpollinatorgardens.org
The map of the participants is on the Pollinator Partnership website at
https://www.pollinator.org/mpgcmap/