Volunteer Workshops and Events

Surveying the restored wetlands at Spunky Bottoms. © TNC

Get Involved

The Volunteer Stewardship Network promotes workdays and other volunteer opportunities across Illinois.

Learn more about ways that you can get involved.

Below is a short list of upcoming workshops and events that may be of interest to stewardship volunteers. For full details, see below

Project Learning Tree Workshop
Ecological Burn Training for Private Landowners and Volunteers
CW Midwest Ecological Prescription Burn Crew Member Training Two-Day Workshops
So What? Communicating Biodiversity Workshop
Habitat Project Herp Happenings Winter 2008

Project Learning Tree Workshop
March 28, 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM
Indiana Dunes State Park Nature Center
The workshop, designed for educators, naturalists, scout leaders, and other youth leaders, will focus on a wide variety of hands-on, interdisciplinary activities can use to teach their Pre-K – 8 students about the environment. Each participant who completes the workshop will receive a newly updated activity guide packed with 96 broad-based, hands-on, easy to use (and fun) activities. The workshop is co-sponsored by Indiana Dunes State Park and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry. Pre-registration is required by March 23 and registration is limited. To register or obtain additional information, call Wendy Smith at 219-707-0055.

Ecological Burn Training for Private Landowners and Volunteers
Saturday, March 29, 2008 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Where: The Land Conservancy of McHenry County
4506 S. Dean St., Woodstock, IL (2 miles south of Route 14 & Dean St.)
815-337-9502
Cost: $20 TLC members
$35 non-members (fee includes 1-year membership to TLC)
Fee includes lunch

9:00 – noon Classroom instruction. Topics to be covered include:
    · Why fire is important to the ecology of the area
    · The tools that are used during prescribed burning
    · Safety consideration in conducting a prescribed burn (including smoke issues)
    · How to conduct a prescribed burn (including responsibilities for crew members and how
       to handle various situations)
12:00 – 12:45 lunch break
1:00 – 3:00 Controlled burn at Westwood Park in Woodstock.

Dress for the weather. Wear work boots, not gym shoes. You must register to attend. Space is limited and registrations will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. To register, contact The Land Conservancy at 815-337-9502.

CW Midwest Ecological Prescription Burn Crew Member Training Two-Day Workshops
April 5-6 and April 7-8, Forest Preserve District of Cook County Salt Creek Maintenance Facility
The CW Midwest Ecological Prescription Burn Crew Member Training course is designed to provide staff and volunteer stewards with the fundamental knowledge necessary to safely participate on the crew of a controlled burn in the Chicago Wilderness region. The workshops are organized by the CW Natural Resources Management Team. For registration information, please contact Chris Mulvaney, the CW Science & Natural Resources Management Teams Coordinator, at 847-242-6424 or mulvaney@chicagowilderness.org.

So What? Communicating Biodiversity Workshop - April 5
The Forest Preserve District of Cook County will present a workshop to provide volunteers with the skills and ideas to help answer that big question. Based on the Chicago Wilderness "Communicating Biodiversity Workbook for Volunteers," and National Association for Interpretation thematic message skills, we will spend an engaging morning reviewing thematic messages, tangibles and intangibles, and skills to help get across a memorable message in a short time. We'll share ideas on how to answer the big question we are confronted with when advocating for and defending management activities. The workshop will be held on Saturday, April 5, 2008, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the Southland Volunteer Resource Center at 12474 W. 111th St., Lemont. The Forest Preserve District of Cook County will provide the snacks and beverages. All are welcome to bring a lunch to enjoy after the workshop, and stay for an afternoon of discussions, walks or other activities. The workshop is free and participants will receive a copy of the Chicago Wilderness "Communicating Biodiversity Workbook for Volunteers." Please reserve your space by phoning 773-631-1790 x 10. For more details, call Cheryl McGarry at 773-631-1853, or John Elliott at 708-771-1332.

Habitat Project Herp Happenings Winter 2008
The year 2008 has been designated The Year of the Frog by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, in order to draw attention to the conservation needs of these animals. The Habitat Project is planning many events in 2008 that will improve frog habitat and broaden our knowledge about how best to protect them in Chicago Wilderness. Frog monitors and other frog lovers are invited to help site stewards restore habitat within or around frog breeding ponds and upland habitat. Opportunities in South Cook County are listed below.

South Cook County
Saturday, April 19 at 8 am and Sunday, April 20 at 1 pm – Bartel Grassland
Plant plugs within the wetland areas of this restored grassland. With 5,450 plugs, we are attempting to break our 2005 record of 98 volunteers.

Saturday, April 26 at 8 am – Old Plank Road Trail – Dewey Helmick Nature Preserve
Join Thorn Creek Audubon Society in a morning of frog habitat restoration along this beautiful, one-mile section of the Old Plank Road Trail.

Contact Dick Riner, Thorn Creek Audubon President and Bartel Grasslands Steward at dickriner@gmail.com or 708-720-5683