News

Chicago Wilderness Adds Five New Members

The Chicago Wilderness consortium welcomed five new members in June, bringing its collective strength to 182 members.

The Lake County Health Department–Environmental Health Services has long acknowledged the connection between human and ecological health. Working to protect the health of people and prevent the spread of disease, the Lake County Health Department has the most extensive water quality and aquatic flora and fauna databases for Illinois lakes in the Chicago Wilderness region and strives to protect the biodiversity found in the water sources in Lake County, Illinois.

Teaching, communicating, and promoting a prudent utilization of natural resources, the Evanston Environmental Association (EEA) provides programs that help individuals make wise environmental choices. Housed in the Ladd Arboretum and Nature Center on 23 acres of reclaimed land and directly next to the North Shore Channel, EEA provides an opportunity to gain environmental awareness in an urban context.

In the classroom and on the ground, Lake Forest College provides an Environmental Studies program that encourages students to become involved in biodiversity conservation. The campus even includes a savanna restoration site.

The Porter County (IN) Plan Commission is committed to preserving and enhancing the county’s unique character, and recently approved an Open Space Ordinance that requires preservation of environmental features in residential development.

Also working to protect open space in Porter County, Indiana, a group of volunteers recently formed the Woodland Savanna Land Conservancy. The group works to acquire and manage lands that provide significant natural habitat, are important for farmland preservation or watershed protection, and have noteworthy historic or archeological value.